Of Aces & Jokers
by DarkSlayerNull211
Summary: Devil. A word inherently associated with evil. However occasionally, exceptions may arise to break such misconceptions. Not always for the better, though. Chapter 1 finally up!
1. Prologue: Perfect end for a perfect day

A/N: Well, what do you know, I actually managed to write this in the end. Still, for all I know, this story may as well just go unnoticed, without attracting any attention, and yes I have to admit

that the concept itself those seem a bit too random, but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone no matter what, so I decided to humor my imagination a little bit, and gave it a shot anyway.

Now, I wish I could tell you that I came up with this story because of some grand epiphany that somehow came to me, like how I now realize the fact that Fate and Vergil resemble each other a lot, no I'm not drunk, seriously when you think about it they are pretty similar, and not just in their fighting style, that one is just pretty obvious.

I wish I could say that the reason behind this came because of a series of pretty funny yet creepy coincidences, like how the day I finally completed my S rank run on DMD for DMC3 was also the day the first episode of Strikers was aired, or how something similar happened around DMC4 and the very last chapter of the Strikers manga.

But no, that is not how it was, even if I've been a fan of both series almost from day one. Sadly, what actually gave me this idea was not as funny or awesome, in fact, it was a rather embarrassing and violent event that took place the last holidays. I won't go too much into details, but I'll say that it involved a family argument at dinner (because, you know, you just can't have the whole Christmas feeling without your family yelling at each other at the table), an Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom match between my youngest sister and I, and a cellphone ring tone.

See, I told you, lame.

Anyway, there are a few things about this fic that I would like to address, but seeing that it will be a little extensive, I guess we can talk about it later on. So for now, let's just go with the real thing, shall we?.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha nor Devil May Cry. They were created by Masaki Tsuzuki and Hideki Kamiya and are the properties of studios Seven Arcs and Capcom.<strong>

* * *

><p>The night sky.<p>

That was the only thing he could see.

He was just barely regaining consciousness, his body felt numb, he could not move from the ground. His vision was somehow blurry, there was a needling pain in the back of his head and he could even feel a ringing on his ears.

And yet, he could see it, even if trapped inside of that hazy world, while his mind was still such a mess, for him it was as clear as in any other of his most vivid moments.

The night sky was the first thing to greet him back into the world of the living.

"..."

Well, at least that was what he assumed the vast _pink_ void that spread above him, filled with _golden_ dim lights and _greenish_ fluffy masses, was.

The night sky embedded with stars and fluffy clouds sailing across.

"..."

But then again, it's not as if this was his first time inside of an artificially created displacement of the time-space continuum... Far from it.

Granted, he might be just half as old as some of his co-workers enforcers, in fact, more often than not, he could not even afford to say he was only "half as old" yet.. And sure, he might have been in active duty for just a couple of years so far, but just in those few years he had been in enough bizarre situations.

And that was why he ended up gaining experience worth more than what some high ranking officers could boast in their entire careers.

The point stood, by now he had been in enough situations involving dimensional barriers to know what to expect from them.

Not only was he used to it, but he even enjoy it now.

Hell, he enjoyed it from the very beginning anyway.

Even more so, this was the sky he was talking about.

In his (quite) young life he had had experiencc his fair share of craziness. He had seen and done more than enough insane actions for a boy of his age. But it was precisely because of this that there were quite a few subjects where he felt pretty confident about his knowledge on them.

Confidence even beyond his usual cocky character.

And the sky was definitely at the top of that list.

So when he tells you that the answer is "the sky", then you can even bet your soul on that, and be sure to win.

Still, there was always the possibility of him being wrong, especially in his current predicament, not to mention his physical state.

By that point in time howevver the numbness in his body had subsided quite a bit but his muscles were stiff and sore. The pain in his head however was pretty much gone, and his hearing was slowly coming back as well.

"Sigh..."

He could only blink when his attempt to bring his hand to his face to rub his tired eyes ended in... well, he couldn't even so much as lift his arm, so _failure_ was the only word he could came up with.

So much for that.

Apparently, his body wasn't willing to help him out just yet.

Still, he decided to give it another go, not really expecting much anyway, this time going with the right arm instead...

"..."

And of course nothing happened.

"..."

Not so surprising there

"Sigh..."

The world around was still kinda blurry, while not as bad as before it was still hard to fully make sense of his surroundings, and with his body still worn out, he had no choice but to settle with a simple plan for the moment.

He did nothing.

Honestly, he still felt like crap, and it was pretty obvious he wasn't going anywhere at the moment, so might as well wait and see what happens.

After all, people always kept telling him that he needed to think things through, instead of just blast things up and see what to do with whatever was left. So he figured now was as good time as any other to give it a try.

...

A cold breeze blew and he allowed his body to fill the chill that came along, although aside from some silver bangs of hair covering his face moving along wit h the wind, in the end he barely felt it.

"..."

He blinked again, when another failed attempt to move punch him in the face; metaphorically speaking of course, although he wouldn't have minded if that actually happened, at least it would have meant he wasn't stuck to the ground.

It was right after he let out a chuckle for the idea of punching his own face that he came up with something...

He still hadn't try to speak

Well, not that it would actually help him, unless there was someone close enough to hear him, and dumb enough to help him, and he already knew the answer for that.

But, it wouldn't hurt to try either.

It wasn't as if he had that many other options anyway.

And like that, without really expecting much of it either, he finally broke the silence that had reign around ever since he woke up, and who knew for how long before that as well.

He gave out a few fake coughs first, trying to make sure that the sound he made before hadn't been just a fluke.

Satisfied enough with the results, he finally prepare himself to give it a shot. And the words he chose for that were...

"You know... I wonder if this is how it feels to have a hangover..."

Of course no answer came, but it really didn't bother him, he was satisfied with the fact that, not only was he able to talk normally, but he even heard his words clearly.

"Well, not that I've ever being drunk to begin with, so I wouldn't really know anyway"

His blank and dismissive tone a clear indication that he didn't care at all for what he just said, finding more worth in the fact that his hearing was back and the headache finally gone.

And with some of his spirit finally restored, as well as a smile adorning his face, he decided to try and see how far could he push this new found streak of luck.

"Hey, maybe I can finally get off this... unnggghhhhh..."

"...Crap"

And apparently whatever divine or cosmic force that had command over his luck (let just called it _fate_ for references sake) decided that, that was as far as he would go.

"Alright... this... is getting ridiculous. Just what the hell is...?"

Finally getting tired of his body's _trolling_, and taking advantage of it's improving condition, he manage to lift his head enough so that he could take a clear look at his body...

"...?"

He kept looking, that look of annoyance marked on his eyes was suddenly replaced by a dull stare.

"...?"

"...?!"

In all honesty, he really wasn't sure about what to expect when he began to move. After all there were many possible reasons as to why he was stuck to the floor. He could have ended up impaled in it fpr some reason, some debris, a branch, or just a steel pipe or something; he could have been bound to it with a binding spell, some chains or even a rope (a really, really tough rope), or simple enough, just being pin to it by his clothes. All of them were perfectly possible and valid reasons, specially in his line of work. In fact all of them already happened to him at least once before.

And yet the actual reason as to why he had been unable to move all this time never crossed his mind. It should have though, really.

"Well, this is..."

At this point, one of his eyebrows began to twitch.

He was buried in the ground.

"..."

But not in a grave or a hole. He was buried in a crater, shaped like his body, and the reason why he couldn't move was because the debris that were once part of the intact floor were now on top of him.

"Sigh... ...You know, I really wish I could say this is new"

But it wasn't new. Not in the slightest.

"And yet, why do I keep getting pissed about this. Seriously..."

Somehow, he had either, fell down, or was smacked into the ground with enough force to leave behind an impression on it. One shaped like him.

"Heh... Knowing me, it was probably both. One right after the other..."

On the bright side, now that he knew just what the problem was, and thanks to the awkward anger-rush he was feeling, he finally managed to break free. At long last he was able to stand up.

"Anyway. Nothing good ever comes from worrying over the small stuff"

Well, if you call breaking free out of your improvised grave the small stuff that is.

Regardless, he was free now. He stretched back a little, a few cracks and snaps became audible, but he didn't seem bothered at all. When he began rotating his shoulders on a similar fashion, only the right one snapped, and just like before he didn't pay it any attention.

His clothing was pretty much intact, albeit the black garments were slightly dirty, but he simply dusted them off, although only his legs and chest. And on that note, he was actually pleased when he noted that his coat was without a scratch.

"Hehe... Good to see that some things just won't let me down"

And almost as if making a comeback to that statement, the crimson gem resting in its silver frame and chain hanging from his neck began to glow. It was faint but it was there, and along came a few red sparks.

"Oh, C'mon, I'm just joking here"

He answered back, while holding the jewel whit his right hand.

"..."

With a smile, he kept staring at the odd reaction for a brief moment, before hiding the chained jewel beneath his black clothes.

Feeling back on his game. He began to take a look around.

"So, first of all... Where am I again?"

It wasn't long before he received his fist clue. Apparently, he didn't end up in the ground itself. At first he thought it was a highway, or at least a city landscape, judging by the concrete that served as his _landing point_.

"... ...Well, at least I was right about the city part"

Indeed he was in a city, just not on ground level. He ended up in the rooftop of a building.

"..."

A really huge building, if the scenery of the city landscape spreading around him and the neighbor buildings that were 10 or some feet shorter were to be trusted. And most likely, they were.

"Sigh. I wish I could say this is new too"

He said while (finally) rubbing the bridge of his nose. Still, he just began to walk towards the edge of the building, a second gust of wind passing by and the tails of his red coat just trailing his movements behind him.

Many times before he heard people say _be careful with what you wish_. And, like most people, he never really bothered to think about it too deeply. And, as_ Fate_ would have it, today would be the day for him to do just that.

Because of how tall the building was, there really was no way to know if the ledge he was heading off to led to the open streets, and alleyway, or something else. Since there was a barrier active around the area, that meant that there shouldn't be any innocent bystanders around, or even if they were, then they should had some level of knowledge regarding magic and the like.

His plan was simple. Regardless if beneath the side of the building was an open space or covered ground, he would use the vantage point to try and get a good idea of where the hell he was. If after that, he found a good isolated place around, he would move there and began his descent to the ground, just to be on the safe side and avoid being seen (if seen at all) by some passerby.

Magic or not, most of the time it was a pain in the ass having to explain how he always managed to pull some of the things he did, such as breaking the fall from the top of a building without any particular effort. And the last thing he wanted was another lecture from the admiral about irresponsible behavior or whatnot.

As easygoing and gentle as she was, when it came to him, she was laways more than capable of making her point clear one way or the other.

"I still like her better than most, though"

However, that particular plan, as well as any other train of thought he had, was pretty much shattered by what he found the moment he reached the edge and got a better look of the city.

He had expected to see some sings or something in at least one building, and had hoped to recognize whatever writing would be in it. And not only did he found enough billboards and giant flat screens to cover the whole _Arthra_ if they were put together, but it only took him a second to recognize the characters that were on theme.

"..."

Even better, he could read them alright.

"..."

The only problem?

"...Japanese, huh?"

Once again, his face lost any traces of the previous emotion he held, and instead portrayed another dull expression.

"So, I'm in Japan... Akihabara, at that... ...Well, I... always wanted to come here at least once..."

Even though he said that, the tone in his voice was a really depressing one.

"Sigh"

Rather than continuing with his monologue, he settled with rubbing his temples with just his right hand.

"So..."

He began once more, the twitch on his eyebrow returning and slightly more pronounced.

"Somehow, I ended up back on my home world. In a crater..."

At that, he returned his attention back at the spot where he woke up. He stared at it for a little longer with that blank stare of his before turning towards the sky, where his eyes settled for a brief moment before just turning away and the twitching increasing it's speed steadily all the while.

"On a building's rooftop...In Akihabara... Japan... inside a dimensional barrier... aaannnddd..."

For whatever reason, he stopped for a moment, and began looking sideways, as if searching for someone or something.

"And... I have no idea how I ended up here"

"!"

"Wait, how I ended up here anyway?"

Well, he might have meant it as a joke at first, but it suddenly became clear that he really had no freaking idea of just what had happened to him.

"Wow. I really have no freaking idea how I ended up here"

Even after he spent a few minutes thinking he was clueless.

"Sigh. This just keeps getting better and better. Well, at least I can say that this never happened before (be careful with what you wish, huh)"

"At any rate, guess I better start with getting off this place. I think I saw a parking lot just at the other side of the..."

"...?!"

He didn't manage to take more than 3 steps away when he suddenly froze, remaining as still as a statue for what he felt were hours.

Maybe it was because he was finally starting to take things seriously, or maybe it was just a fluke, but at that point he remembered something, something that even though he had just mention, he really didn't gave it any thought until at that particular point.

Finally beginning to ponder on the newly discovered question, he turned his gaze towards the distorted sky with a puzzled look...

"..."

And then it hit him, metaphorically of course.

"Why is there a barrier on?"

"Just who put it..."

And then a third gust of wind hit him, literally.

Like before, he wasn't sure _why_ he didn't realize it sooner, maybe it was because of how beaten he was at the very beginning, or maybe because ridiculous, awkward, and even embarrassing facts kept coming at him one after the other, but that didn't matter. Now however, he noticed it, that the wind that he had been feeling all along had a really unsettling feeling to it.

"Where did that came from...?"

He began looking around frenetically, trying to spot something, anything that could actually help him understand just what was going on.

It hadn't even been 6 minutes since he woke up, and there was already (as he would put it) so much damn annoying crap going on.

Thankfully, _Fate_ had apparently taken pity on him and decided to extend _her_ hand and help him out.

Of course, such favor did not come for free.

"**GGRRNNOOOOOOAAAARRRGGHHYAAYA!"**

A roar.

That was the only warning he got before something really big and really fast came down at him and crashed on the floor... or rooftop technically...

And it all happen in less than 4 seconds.

It was more than enough, though.

Dante S.D. Redgrave had been through a lot in his 13 years of life, three of which he had been working as an enforcer for the TSAB.

He had already faced many messy situations, such as the occasional ancient relic going haywire, the average attack from demonic, evil, crazy creatures and even the encounter with some really messed up people who though that they had the right to do whatever the hell they wanted for whatever the hell reason; he never really bothered to listen to their annoying monologues all the way through (the moment they started to talk non stop, was usually the moment he would beat the living crap out of them).

It was thanks to this particular way of living, that his experience with life threatening situations was disturbingly high. And also, the reason why, despite of the ridiculously small window of opportunity, he still managed to dodge the incoming assailant.

He couldn't see it directly but he felt it even before that annoying scream it released earlier.

Just as his attacker had reached the highest point of its assault and began to descend towards him, he had manage to jump out of the way and landed just a few inches away from_ his _crater.

And judging by the cold atmosphere that suddenly came, as well as the cracking sound coming from the newest impact zone, he had also just discovered the source of that icy cold wind.

"Sorry bud, but if that were enough to take _me _down, then even _Chrono_ would be able to kick my ass" _(well, without me kicking his ass back, anyway) _..Anyway. Why don't you come out, so that we can get... this... over with... …?!"

By that particular moment of his life, Dante constantly felt that he had seen about everything in his work, that was obviously a mistake, and sometimes even he would admit it, but it would appear that this day wasn't about to let him forget it either.

"Sigh, at least I can scratch this from the _This is new_ list too"

Certainly, this was something he would have never guessed.

The dust and cold fog that had erupted after the impact finally began to settle down, and his attacker's figure suddenly became visible. Something that he would never forget in his life.

He simple stared at it with a bewildered look.

For the thing that had ambush him turned out to be a big, black, possessed, monstrous, frozen and (apparently) very angry...

"...Dust bunny"

That was the first thing that came to Dante's mind when he finally got a look at the creature, with the body made out of black, moving... well... dust, and the elongated and frozen ears and fangs.

And apparently, having said those words out loud had been the magic trigger for his memory to return to work.

In that instant, he managed to remember every single thing he could not recall just a few minutes ago.

And so, Dante now knew how was it that he got himself involved in a seemingly uneventful and dull archeological expedition that ended up turning badly really fast.

From the very beginning, ever since he woke up in that crater., he got the feeling that he pretty much was the only one responsible for his current situation and to his dismay, it turned out he was right. Still...

_(Best friend my ass, as soon as I get my hands on you I'm gonna kick your ass, you stupid ferret)_

That didn't meant he had to accept it so calmly.

A sight of movement from the front returned Dante's attention to his current target, the angry smile on his face replaced with a dull stare when he locked eyes with its dead eyeballs.

"But seriously (sigh), why do I keep getting pissed of about this stuff, I mean..."

His right hand once again move to reach for something, this time however, it was at his chest area rather than his lower back.

This was apparently seen by the _dust bunny_ as a treat and in just a blink, it shot several tendrils out of its _dusty_ body at him. Their tips were frozen and jagged, ready to rip some flesh.

However, Dante didn't seem to care at all, he just settled with simply moving his left foot to the back and turning his body a bit, so that his right shoulder would be facing the upcoming attack. His head was cocked back slightly and his hand kept moving towards his chest.

The frozen appendages missed him if only by little, the red tails of his coat flickering due to the wind pressure behind the attack's speed. The creature however, didn't wasted a moment.

When the frozen tips embedded themselves in the ground past Dante, rather than calling them back or sending new ones, the bunny used them as improvised wrapping hooks, pulling itself at Dante with incredible speed. It really wasn't clear though, if this was made after learning just how fast he actually was or if it was just a rather lucky albeit random idea.

To Dante however, it didn't matter. In fact his only reaction was an ever so slightly rise of his left eyebrow.

And, just as they were separated by mere inches...

* * *

><p><strong>BGM: Senki Zesshou Symphogear OP1-Synchrogazer.<strong>

* * *

><p>A smirk appeared on his face as he became a red blur and disappeared.<p>

The creature, having missed its target without even noticing, crashed into the empty floor. It remained there without moving until the voice of his prey suddenly came from behind.

"...After all..."

Dante had reached the edge where he had been standing earlier, his attention directed towards the red jewel that he was now holding in front of his face, as if addressing it instead of the mass of darkness a few feet away from him.

"...this is pretty much the story of my life"

When the creature didn't move from its position, Dante released a smirk and, although his silver hair hanged in front of his face obscured his eyes, the blue orbs were still visible as if lighted by their own light.

Taking the opportunity, he dropped his hold on the jewel and once again reach towards his lower back, underneath his scarlet coat, pulling out a small card.

It was just as big as any ordinary poker card, and it's design was petty similar to one too.

One side being pure white with an obsidian jewel, similar in shape and appearance at the one hanging on his neck but only smaller, adorning the center. Two stylized E were engraved in two of it's corners.

The other side was an identical copy, albeit with an opposite color pattern, and with the letter I being the one marking it.

With one twirl of his wrist both sides split apart, becoming two separated cards. Dropping the one with the black stone, he caught it with his free hand.

With both pieces in his grasp, Dante extended his arms as bloody flare lit up within each gem and the cards became engulf in crimson light and sparks.

And with one last flash the lights disappeared, their display eerily illuminating his face and his smile never subsiding.

The cards now replaced with twin guns but with the same color scheme of their previous forms, a few sparks lingered on their surface until Dante began twirling them around on his index fingers.

With one last swift motion, he stopped, the guns held firmly in his hands at the ready. He raised his head to glare back at the his prey, the evil bunny having remained still the whole time.

Finally acknowledging the scene in front as an actual threat, the shadow readied itself before lunching several more of its frozen tendrils, almost twice as the last time.

Dante didn't move, not even when he was surrounded by most of the incoming blades did he botherd to move, he only stared back at the ice monster with that confident grin of his still on his face.

And not a second later the blades crashed into the ground, ripping it apart and releasing a cloud of dust and cold steam. But rather than pulling them back, they began to lash out at the area randomly, intending in obliterate they target.

They continued like that for a short time... Until crimson bolts of light came down crashing on them, shattering the ice and breaking apart the limbs.

A disturbing cry of agony was cut short when a familiar red blur ram at the shadow with enough force to push it away while knocking it to the ground...

_BAM!_

Followed by its face being hit with full force by the sole of a black boot.

Trying to recover quickly, it got back on all four and looked forward, but instead of seeing red, it was met with something black.

The barrel of a gun.

Dante wasn't sure if the thing had intelligence at all and he just couldn't tell if it was capable of having thoughts or emotions, but at that particular moment, he got a look to the closest thing to that the shadow was capable of showing.

When their eyes locked once more, it froze and any violent feeling it gave away disappeared.

I was almost as if the thing was afraid. And with a reason.

Even though they were face to face, his left eye wasn't visible as it was covered by his hair, but even so, something was there. A single gold orb shined through the shadows that were cast on his face.

Well, not that it mattered in the end.

* * *

><p><strong>Of Aces and Jokers.<strong>

* * *

><p>Red light began to crack within the gun's barrel, and the gun itself was raised a bit so that it would be at its eye level.<p>

A grin.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

* * *

><p>"Perfect end of a perfect day, I guess..."<p>

* * *

><p>A gunshot.<p>

* * *

><p>AN: Wow, talking about long and boring huh. Well, if you are familiar with the MGS series, then you should be already used to prologues playing out like that. Now, if only I could write stuff 1/10 as awesome as that this wouldn't have sucked so much, right?.

But in all seriousness, I do feel I could have done better here, if it seemed that it was a little bit dragging or dull, well it's because it probably is. The thing is, I really didn't give it to much thought to this chapter, I just needed something that would let you know that something like this story existed, and that it would give you an idea of what to expect, even if a little bit vague. So, yeah, my bad, I'm sorry for that.

Still, I think it turned out pretty decent, but then again I'm the one who is writing this, I guess is only natural for the authors to think highly of their work. But it's up to the readers to decide if we should feel proud of ourselves, or just go and die in a hole somewhere. I already did my part, so now is up to you.

And, while we are talking about the chapter, I would like to talk about it's main character.

I think I did a descent job portraying Dante's personality, specially since I was trying to keep his character exposed only little aspects of his personality. I wanted to keep it that way for those who are not that familiar with him, so that they could get to know him better throughout the story itself, the same will be for the MGLN characters.

Still, I think it turned well enough on that side too, but as I said that is up to you to decide.

Well, moving on to the more general aspects of the fic, I have to say, this little project of mine is quite special in its own way. Not only is it my first fanfic in almost 5 years, is also the first work I post in this site. Also this is my first attempt at a decent action Nanoha fic, in the past I only wrote two others, a YuunoxFate fic and a NanoFate fic, both of them were one shots, so I don't really count them for much. And as for the DMC side, well, this is my first Devil May Cry fic ever, so yeah.

I'm actually quite excited about this.

But before anything else, lets established some ground rules, okay?

First: For the time being, the story plot will follow the MGLN seasons, there is a little bit more to it than just that, but we'll get to it later on. I'll just say this now, I'm using the first three seasons now as a reference only, that means that, while the events that take place are pretty much the same, how they will play out is a complete different thing. But in all honesty, I just threw an adolescent version of one of the most iconic fictional characters of the decade into the plot, not only did I just threw canon through the window, I buried it in a hole under tons of new fandom that I hope to work with soon. Anyway, the next couple of chapters should be enough for you to understand.

Second: Regarding the DMC series. I will try to work with as much of the elements from the series as possible, in fact I already have some really interesting ideas. However there are a few things that I had to rule out in the end, so just to give you a heads up:

The 1st novel: Capcom never really said how canonical the novel was, and while Hideki Kamiya (the creator of the DMC series and Dante) did work in it, he wasn't all that involved in the project. He did say that the portrayal of Dante was pretty close to his, but he never said that was his exact vision of Dante or the entire series, at all. Besides, ever since the release of the manga, the novel's credibility just went down even more. Since it would be too confusing working with two contradictory facts, I had to disregard the novel in the end. Still, there really wasn't anything that relevant in there (or at least not something that I couldn't work out with the Nanoha series)... Well, except, you know... Gilver.

The 2nd game: I know many people hate it, but to be honest, I actually love it. It did introduce the mechanics that would evolved into the styles system in DMC3, the designe of the characters and stages was pretty amazing, it also introduced the concept of a bonus character to play as with Trish (then carried over by Vergil). And let's not forget the soundtrack, which is may favorite in the entire franchise so far... Hell, I would even go as far as to say that it might be better than DMC1's OST, how can you forget the moment **Faithful Servant** kicks in while the Furiataurus emerges from the ground... and then you just move to a corner and shoot him to death... All in all however, the game just feels too apart from the main series, so I had to remove it too. A pity, I really wanted to work something with Bolverk... Oh well, may be some other time.

And 3rd, NT DmC. Whether you like, hate or just don't care for Ninja Theory's revamp, you all have to admit, that it has absolutely nothing to do with the main series, the only thing it has is the name of the game, and the name of the character. In fact Ninja Theory themselves already said it. In the end the game is more of a spin-off more than anything else. And because of that I simply ruled it out too. Besides, even if I wanted to included it, I couldn't do it anyway, the game doesn't even have a released date yet.

However... **the Manga, DMC3, DMC1, the Anime, DMC4, the Deadly Fortune and DMC Vol. 2 novels and even Bayonetta (for cameos and references mostly)**

...Will be featured, in one way or another, so if there is something in particular that you liked about any of these, you will most likely find it here too...

...Except for Trish and Lady. I'm sorry, but at first I wanted to include Trish, and I thought it would be easy, with the hole Project F and all that, however, after sometime I found it extremely hard to try to keep her character around, as her presence simply couldn't keep up with the rest of the cast. I didn't exactly remove her either, as you soon will find out, but her role may not be what some of you would expect, a shame but necessary.

As, for Lady, well I never really liked her to begin with, so...

Yeah... I'm sorry to all her fans, but I always found her character after the third game pretty useless and extremely annoying, and seeing that there are far more reliable and likable characters in here, I found no reason to include her. Hell, I even like Lucia better than her.

And something else before moving to the last point. This is pretty much an alternate Universe, and with that in mind, I made a few changes, mainly to Dante's past. Now, don't worry, I don't intend to pull off another Ninja Theory here, his background may be somewhat different but he is still the same Dante we all know and love, or at least he will become eventually.

And finally, just one thing regarding the story itself. When I came up with this, I had originally intended to make a story that would take place during the fourth season, Force, but as time went by and more ideas came, I found it really hard to try and include them in just one story. At first I thought to explore them through flashbacks and gaiden arcs, but it became too tiresome and confusing. So instead, I decided to do things properly and start from the beginning. So with that in mind you can take this whole thing as the first part in the actual story.

I was really looking forward to start that story (which name was meant to be **A Devil's Dogma**), so on the downside, I will have to wait until this is all finished before moving to that.

On the other hand, I'll get to work with an adolescent Dante interacting with the Nanoha cast first, so is not that bad.

There are several interesting encounters I'm looking forward to write, obviously Nanoha and Dante is one of them (the white devil and the red joker... C'mon, it needs to be done!), as well as the ones with Signum and Vita (expect lots of pointless fights and name calling)

One of the very first that I came up with, but that I will have to wait for, is the one between Vergil and Fate, and I insist that there is a lot of potential when you put these two together. I guess is because they are pretty much two sides of the same coin.

And of course I'm going to include Vergil, he is my favorite character in the DMC series; he is probably my favorite character here as well, followed closely by Fate.

But, the one I'm looking forward the most, even though I still have no idea how I will play it, is the one between Dante and Hayate. Brace yourselves for that one.

Well, this chapter is already 20 pages long by now, so I really think I should stop typing right about now.

With this I do hope you get a solid idea of what is it that I'm aiming for, and I would appreciate your help with that. I apologize for this long drill but it was necessary, and I do hope not to have caused any inconveniences here.

Well, the next chapters are probably gonna take a little while. I already know what I'll use, I just need the time to actually write it. In the mean time I guess we'll just wait and see how this first chapter does.

That's all on my end. Hope to see you around some other time.


	2. Prologue II: Have A Nice Day

A/N: So... Kept you waiting, huh...

Just in case you were wondering, no I do not plan to drop this story anytime soon, especially after the unexpected interest it got.

Well, it seems that this past few weeks have been giving us a lot of interesting things to look forward for us the fans of both series. Not only does the HD collection of DMC has been release, but even new footage for Ninja Theory's DmC was shown during Capcom's Captivate event for those that are looking forward to it.

Even if I'm not that much into DmC anymore, I was actually looking forward to it at first, when we all thought it was a prequel/retconing, but ever since NT said that it was meant to be a whole new game with no ties to the main story line, I stopped caring about it. I'm not too fond of the way they're portraying Dante either.

Besides, I already have my eyes on something far more stylish and controversial than DmC could ever hope to be, and if you want to know what I'm talking about, then I have four words for you:

_Revenge with a vengeance...! _

We are also just a few weeks away from the premiere of the second Nanoha movie.

But the thing that I believe has most of the DMC fans excited, is the recently announced Project X Zone, since it offers the possibility of one of the most wanted crossovers: DMCXBayonetta. Even though only Dante has been confirmed so far, but new characters keep showing up, so maybe we'll get to so it after all.

And even if it doesn't happen, I'm already quite excited about it myself, I always thought Dante would have made one hell of a cameo in Resonance of Fate, God Eater and Valkyria Chronicles... Well... actually, I think Vergil would fit that last one better, but nah...

Well, cheesy lines, ego boosts and pointless chat aside, I do feel like I owe you and apology, but honestly things really didn't turn out as I had planned.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't the writhing itself what proved difficult (I actually managed to finish the chapter in about 7 hours), but the time that I could spare in doing so. It wasn't until this week that I could squeeze my schedule a bit for a couple of days.

And it just happens that I was raised under the teaching that an apology loses it's meaning if you repeat it over and over, so I'm just going to say this once but do know that I mean it.

I'm really sorry for the unexpectedly long wait.

Then again, when you are a college student who also has a part time job, not to mention when you have a couple of unreliable parents that just ditch their other kids on you when they can't do things themselves... Well, you get the picture...

Ironically, if it wasn't because of those two fools, I would have never develop the interest needed to write this story in the first place.

Seriously though, school certainly does wonders with your time.

But please, don't let my annoyingly chaotic everyday life disturb you, let's better move on to a far more important topic for all of us...

The story itself.

Well, like I just said a lot of unexpected stuff happen so as a result I ended up making a few changes: I removed the chapter that was supposed to come next as well as a few scenes that I had planned for this one and included revised versions of some other scenes meant to appear in the removed chapter. I also made this chapter 7000 words longer, excluding the autors notes, of course.

Just so we're clear, I have a 10/15 thousand words-per-chapter rule that I bid to, since last time it was more of a teaser than anything else I wanted it to be short.

All of this was so I could compensate for the lost time and also try to make it up for you. And it seems it worked somehow.

And like I said before, it appears that somehow, this seemingly random and silly idea of mine attracted some attention after all.

In all honesty, I really had no high hopes for this little project, so imagine my surprise when, after just a month and a half, I checked my inbox and discovered around 20 messages about _Of Aces and Jokers_. I even went as far as to suspect that my account had been hack or something.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and to address a few things that I was pointed out.

**To_ Rashaan Butler:_** My pleasure to serve you, my friend. Glad to see I wasn't the only one that ever thought of this.

**To _Kame Rider Wizard:_** Well, thank you and I totally know how you feel but DMC is such an awesome series that we just can't help it.

**To _taichidecade:_** I think anything with Dante in it is bound to be interesting, even if just a bit but thanks.

**To _Takeshi Yamato:_** Glad you like it, but it's about to get even better

**To _MrReadNTeller:_** Yeah... Sorry about that, I tend to type way too fast for far too long and to rely too much in the auto corrector, so sorry. I am trying to work on that but like they say, old habits die hard.

And special thanks to** _HolyKnight5_:** Not only you're my fist reviewer in 5 years, you even have a 5 in your user name, so thanks a bunch my friend and, I think this chapter will pretty much punch canon's mom in the face.

And some special thanks to _TheLastNanaya_ and _Lazy Peoples _as well as anyone else who actually gave this story of mine a shot.

Before we continue though, there is one little thing that I discovered in the previous chapter that I need to point out.

I made a slight mistake, or rather omission, regarding Dante's full name (which was entirely made up for this story and has no relation with Dante's real full name, if such a thing exists). Well, I already fixed it, but just in case:

His name in this story is suppose to be Dante S. D. Redgrave.

I don't think I need to tell you what the S stands for, do I.

And as for the D, I can't tell you much about it right now, but just keep in mind that Dante is supposed to be the younger _twin_.

Also, Dante and Nero will be the only DMC characters receiving a last name, meaning that Vergil and others that will show up later on will remain with their names intact, aside from nicknames and aliases that is.

Don't think too much about the names though, in Nero's case it is actually related to the story (you'll get it once we get there) and as for Dante, well it was just for references sake, really. That and the fact that I doubt he could have joined something as big as the TSAB with just a given name.

Not to mention that I really needed something that Signum could use when addressing him since I doubt she would be willing to call him by what most of us assume is his actual family name. Again, I don't think I need to tell you what that is.

As for this chapter itself, I do have a couple of things I would like to discuss, but that can wait until the end of it.

So that pretty much ends this side here, you can now move on to the actual story.

Of course, you could have just skipped this whole mess anyway.

By the way, has any of you ever hear the song _Have A Nice Day_ by Bon Jovi, is surprisingly good and more importantly, I think it fits Dante perfectly. Seriously, if he were to ever have a character image song I think it would be something along those lines.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own anything in here. Seriously, I don't.<strong>

* * *

><p><span><strong>Prologue II-Final.<strong>

**Have A Nice Day.**

* * *

><p>There's always been a funny thing about the silence. That, absolute silence doesn't exist in the world... or worlds.<p>

At least not by itself.

Because sound would always be a constant.

After all, how could silence exist, without sound to compare with?. It could even be said that sound is proof of existence itself.

Of course, it could always be said the other way around.

Still, regardless of the time or the place, silence will always end even by the faintest of sounds. Because sound is a constant prove of life and existence.

The howling of the wind, the breathing of the living, the subtle movement of the earth were all reminders of such a simple truth.

It wasn't for nothing, even if it was cliche, when people would said things like _it's quiet, too quiet_, it was just a practical way to interpret such natural rule. Just another proof of how a simple fact holds true in the end.

Indeed, such a simple truth.

And, the thing about the truth is that, it can always be so ambiguous.

After all, there are always exceptions to it.

A perfect example would be _space_, where nothing can survive on it's own, and yet is filled with life.

Yes, the cold void was a perfect comparison for _that_ place. Where darkness and silence reign supreme.

The absolute silence already felt quite unnatural, but the darkness that crawled around the place only added to the disturbing atmosphere.

It wasn't just that sound was no longer there, it felt more as if sound or anything else never existed in the first place.

In fact, space wasn't the right thing to compare that scene. No, the closest thing anyone would remember when being in such place was death. The _silence of death_.

Where nothing could be heard, nothing could be seen, nothing could be felt.

Death. Where nothing existed, only ceased to be.

Indeed, such description fitted perfectly there, a place where sound just didn't existed and where darkness lingered in every wall, in every corner.

Silence and darkness reigning supreme...

_BANG..._

Or at least they used to...

_BANG... BANG... BANG... BANG..._

**GNNNNNAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH...!**

Absolute silence used to prevail all around, until the sounds of gunshots and cries of pain began to resonate within the desolated parking lot.

Darkness used to engulf every inch of the rooms, until crimson bolts of light sailed across them, hitting their target with such force that it was sent flying away, crashing into several cars and walls along the way.

Finally a sturdier wall and a van stopped its travel.

The beast moved it's damaged body trying to get up, but the effort wasn't rewarded with success. Instead, the moment it began to shift it's weight to the hind legs, the frozen portions on them shattered. The limbs simply falling apart from the body, dissolving into nothingness as soon as they touched the ground.

And the roar of anger that followed was interrupted by the intrusion of a different sound.

Different, but not new.

"Well, this is a surprise..."

Dante's voice echoed through the dark chambers, and although it clearly came from the other side of the broken wall the shadow had gone through, the dust that had risen after the impact blocked any sight of him.

Still, judging by the intensity and the echo of the voice, he wasn't anywhere close.

A second roar was again cut short, only this time it was after the lower jaw, having reach its limit as well, froze and broke alongside one of it´s ice fangs, disappearing soon afterwards, just as before.

"And just when I thought you wouldn't go down"

Contrary to before, Dante's voice seemed to be rather close.

This was confirm when he slammed his left foot on top of some of the debris that had remained close to the wall, blowing the dust away and removing any obstructions from view.

* * *

><p><strong>BGM: <strong>**Guilty Gear X Heavy Rock Tracks OST T19: FATAL DUEL**

* * *

><p>Leaning forward, his left arm on top of his knee, Ebony still held firmly in his hand and a cocky smile portrayed on his face..<p>

Ivory, however, was gone.

Replaced by a long sword, held in Dante's grip and resting on top of his shoulder.

Rebellion had always been an impressive sight. Being taller than an average adult, with the arrow-like end of the blade, the skull motif for the handle, not to mention the strong magical power that emanated from it.

But when it was held by its 13 year old master, it only help to increase the imposing, out of place aura of the weapon.

And to make Dante look all the more bizarre, carrying around a sword that was almost twice his height.

"But hey, don't feel bad about it, there's no shame in losing to the better man..."

Yeah... let's not forget that _man_ is not a term that can be use here yet.

"Besides, loser or not, you're still one hell of a punching bag"

Even if Dante was smiling all the while, he wasn't about to let the whole thing drag out any longer.

Taking the first step forward, he began his march towards his fallen foe.

And of course, said foe wasn't about to let things end so easily either.

After all, regardless of lacking intelligence or not, one thing was clear, that beast had, at the very least, the most basic of instincts...

Self preservation.

And it was because of that, even when it was already in it's final moments, that the shadow lashed out with one final attempt on Dante's life.

Turning one of its remaining legs into a bigger version of it's ice fangs before extending the sharp limb forward, with as much speed and strength as it could muster, ready to impale it's target at any cost.

Dante didn't even let out a chuckle.

Without breaking his pace, he simple lifted Ebony, taking aim before...

"Bull's eye..."

_BANG..._

Truth to his word, the shot hit the shadow right between the eyes, piercing the body before it broke apart.

Losing what little energy it had left, the weird living dust that composed most of its body was scattered by the force of the shot, the frozen body parts shattering like before, and the ice blade that had been send simply dissolve before it could even cover half the distance between the two.

Once reaching where the failed attack had stopped, Dante twirled his gun a few times before bringing that hand closer to his face, as he began to address his defeated prey one last time...

"You were a worthy opponent Evil Bunny of Doom, and for that I salute yo... ..._OH CRAP!_"

And at that moment, he remembered why is never a good idea putting the barrel of a recently fired gun in contact with your skin.

Stabbing Rebellion into the ground, he began to massage the damaged area with his now free right hand.

"Hot.. Hot... Hot... urgh damn it..."

"Sigh. Well... that was pretty lame..."

Fortunately, once again_ fate_ decided to bail him out before he could embarrass himself even further.

And yet again, that came at a price...

A sudden burst of light interrupted Dante's frustrated thoughts.

Turning towards the remains of the magical abnormality that he had just finish off, he met the sight of said remains beginning to swirl around a dim, small blue light, the very reason why he ended up in this whole mess to begin with.

A _jewel seed_.

Rather than finding himself in anger or shock to this, Dante only seemed mid surprised, until a look of realization formed in his eyes.

"Oh! that's right. I'm supposed to seal those things right after I beat them up..."

Had he not been too busy putting Ebony on the holsters on his lower back along with Ivory, or using his right hand to rub the sore spot on his forehead, Dante would have slammed a fist on his open palm as well, just to emphasize his obvious sarcastic comment.

And it was at the exact moment that the burned skin had finish regenerating, that the black dust and ice swirling around the ancient jewel began to take form...

The snarling face of the fallen beast.

Despite being just a few feet away, Dante started talking to it in such a casual manner as if he was holding a friendly conversation with another enforcer back at the _Arthra_.

"Sigh. Too bad I don't know any sealing spells or anything..."

Taking Dante's earlier confession as a hint, several miniature spheres of light appeared around the haywire relic, as well as some of the more traditional ice whips.

Letting out another sigh while still facing in the creature's direction, he closed his eyes before speaking again.

"Yep... too bad..."

With eyes closed, his hand began to move towards the handle of his sword, without making any attempt to conceal this action.

Then over half of the ice whips were send towards him.

"Too bad for you..."

* * *

><p><strong>BGM: <strong>**Guilty Gear X Heavy Rock Tracks OST T09: SUCK A SAGE**

* * *

><p>And in one swift swing of the blade, every single one of the incoming attacks were tear apart<p>

"... that the only thing I need is... this"

With Rebellion's end now pointing towards the resurrecting beast, Dante opened his eyes as his sly grin came back.

Even the sword itself seemed to follow its master example, as the length of the blade began to lite up with a faint crimson and the eye-sockets of the skull released a small flare.

"So how about it, _doc_... Wanna go for round two..."

The ghostly face suddenly disappeared, only to return a second later, bigger and angrier. With a roar that summoned a massive gust of wind, the amount of light spheres increased twofold and the ice whips grew twice their size.

Dante's grin never fade away though, quite the contrary, when the first dozen of the frozen arms were swung at him, it only grew wider as he duck under the first few that came from the sides before making a run to his right.

The attacks had grew faster, way more so than before, and the strength behind them was on a whole new level, but for Dante, it only made it all the more thrilling.

"Ha ha, not bad. C'mon fluffy, don't let me down now."

As if accepting the challenge, the remaining whips began to make their move, as the ones that had failed prepare for their second chance.

But as much as the speed in their movements had increased, they were always a second too late, hitting the empty air or just crushing the ground, but not even gracing the tails of Dante's red coat.

That however, didn't meant the match was already settle.

Just as Dante was about to taunt the shadow even more, one of the light spheres shot a beam of pure white, and despite its small size, it made Dante stop dead in his tracks before he could get in its path.

Having missed the original target once again, the attack kept going forward, piercing a whole rod of cars, three columns as well as a wall as if they were butter. It may have gone even further, but said wall prevented Dante from confirming this.

Still, it was obvious just how bad it would be for him if he was hit, even just once.

And that just made it all the better.

He turned his attention towards his attacker once more, his grin more excited than before, and he wasn't disappointed.

Seven more beams were shot at him, doing a back dash Dante avoided the first one. Taking advantage of the momentum built, he performed a series of back-flips avoiding three more. They devastated the ground but couldn't come close to the crimson swordsman.

Just as his hand touch the ground after the third strike failed, Dante pushed himself upwards, getting out of the way of the fifth beam as well of two oncoming frozen daggers.

"Hahaha... see, you can do it if you try...!"

Spinning in mid-air, he manage to avoid another ice dagger, which had been impulsed by an eighth beam of light, although Dante was too much into the battle to care for that.

Just as the remaining two beams were closing in, Dante used another whip that was approaching from behind as a platform and pushed himself forward before diving towards the ground and using a nearby car as a cover for the three dozen needles sent to welcome him.

He didn't have time to rest though, as he began to feel the floor below him getting a little bit too cold.

Dodging out of instinct, he escaped the ice pillars that have erupted from magic circles on the ground.

"Heh, yeah. Like we haven't seen that one before..."

Not sparing any other second, Dante ignored the angry roar coming from his right and made a dash towards a column a few feet away. His hold on Rebellion tightening as he came closer.

Using the structure as an extension of the ground, he ran vertically until he almost reached the ceiling. Spinning around on the spot, he came face to face with a wall of ice blades and light, send specifically to skewer him on the spot...

Only for Dante to disappeadr in a blur of movement, and reappear several feet away...

...And using both the wall and the ceiling as standing ground.

He gave one final glare at the beast, his cocky smile changing into a triumphant grin.

The ghostly shadow, having lost any patience it had left, or simply being too dumb to understand the futility of its actions, attacked once more.

"Gotcha..."

With one quick dash forward, Dante moved past the first attacks, then dropping on top of the still extended limbs of the ice beast, he ran through them until a bigger light beam almost pierced him.

Jumping high into the air, Dante brought Rebellion above his head before bringing the sword as well as himself down in an overhead slash.

When the blade came in contact with a barrier, the last line of defense of the beast, the red glow that had surrounded it grew stronger even if ever so slightly, and crimson sparks began to crack alongside it's length.

And just with that, the barrier shattered like common glass. Without any further obstacles, Dante's strike slashed trough the beast.

A silver flash of light coming from the impact, and a red bolt of light erupting soon afterwards.

For several seconds, nothing else happened, Dante remaining perfectly still in the exact same spot and with Rebellion in the same position after the strike too.

Not sooner though, the ghostly face began to froze, slowly at first from the ground, but just a few moments later the center had turn into ice, which then expanded and froze it entirely, leaving the spectral face stuck in a permanent snarl.

It remained like that for two more seconds before it finally broke apart, releasing a cold wind. Dante's coat flowing along side the freezing gale.

The ancient jewel which had been shining in pure white, having lost its _host_, was then engulfed in the crimson light of Dante's magic.

With one final outburst of dark red sparks, the jewel sucked up all the light around, returning everything to the shrouds of darkness.

Remaining still for a few more seconds, Dante finally moved from his position. Taking one quick look at his work, he let out a soft chuckle.

"Well, that was..."

Resting Rebellion on his shoulder, he released another sight before continuing.

"...pretty sweet, actually..."

He shifted the sword's weight on his shoulder before addressing it too.

"Oh! Right... ...Hm, sorry about ...well, you know... shooting you and all that back then..."

At that point, Dante nodded towards the wall they all had came through, and then upwards, referring to the exterior where the whole thing had started, before their battle had taken them to the parking lot they just finished destroying.

"But, you have to admite, that turned out pretty cool..."

And of course, no answer came back.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear I'm just getting the silent treatment..."

But before Dante could ponder any further on that, his attention was pulled back to the ancient relic he had just sealed. With no energy left, the jewel shut down falling into the ground.

Or so it would have been had Dante not caught it. Holding the little thing between his index finger and thumb, he inspected it for a few seconds.

"Well, that's one down..."

And then, the mark XXI appeared within it.

"...Twenty and some more to go... ...Sigh..."

Flipping the small jewel in the air before being caught again, Dante turned around and walked away. He managed to exit that particular room through the same hole he had used to enter.

"Well, at any rate, guess I should just start with getting out of here, hmm... ...huh?"

Just as he finally reached the other side, he realized that things wouldn't be that easy.

Then again, they never were...

"This... could be a problem..."

Rather than look like the seven year old, functional construction that it had been an hour ago, the building that used to be a parking lot now looked like a place that belong in the ancient ruins of a war-devastated city.

If the markings and debris on the floor were to be trusted, then several walls had been completely demolished, with the only thing that remained of them being the portions closest to the floor and ceiling.

Several of the columns that were meant to act as support, in particular the ones along the path the shadow had been blown away, looked like swiss cheese imitations made out of concrete, filled with bullet holes courtesy of Dante's guns,

The electric wiring of the lamps and the alarms systems falling from the ceilings and the cars around now were nothing more than useless and twisted metal junks.

However, the thing, or rather _things,_ that stood out the most, were the cuts and slashes that covered the place. Some of them looked quite clumsy, even brutal, while some others were more precise and clean.

The whole building now destroyed, his prey gone for good, and yet he himself didn't even had a scratch

Dante might be regarded as an expert of sorts when it came to _lost logia _or anything related to ancient _Belka_, a remarkable field agent for the TSAB as well as an outstanding fighter despite his young age, but it was no secret that he wasn't like by many, and most of the time it was because of the same reason. He wasn't the personification of responsibility, that was for sure, and sometimes he tended to get too carried away in the heat of the moment...

And by moment, it often meant battle...

Many of the high ranking officers on the upper levels of the Bureau (including a certain Admiral who had been his mentor and now current guardian and superior) could only hope that this was a problem that would go away as he grew older.

But, before that could happen, or ifit would happen at all, the consequences of his rash actions were a constant that would always come back with a kick to his butt, some times metaphorically of course, some other times, not so much.

And it just so happens that the consequences of having getting too carried away while fighting the berserk bunny had just shown up to kick his butt too, again metaphorically...

Said _kick _came as Dante now being completely lost because of the destroyed rooms.

Having reduce every single wall, hallway, or entrance in them to nothing more than unrecognizable trash, he could not longer tell just from where he had came from in the first place.

Standing in the middle of the trashed room, with Rebellion still resting on his shoulder, but with his left hand now inside his pocket, Dante simply began to look at the other three _walls_, one at a time, trying to discern any possible clues to use.

It wasn't going well.

"I'm pretty sure,,, hmm, that... it was... huh.."

"...Wait, what... ...What the hell is that thing anyway?"

"Oh, screw it... Lets do this my way"

Taking a stance in front of a random wall, Dante took an inverted hold on Rebellion's handle, with the blade now running alongside his arm rather than outwards.

Magic power began to gather within the sword's body, a dim red flare beginning to lit it whole as crimson sparks of light dance around. With another sly smile he glared at his new target.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

A single quick swing and a crackling wave of energy was shot forward, the ground being reap apart by the force of its advance. When it made contact, the whole area was blown away with an explosion.

And at the same time, rubble and debris from the wall at the other end of the room fell apart too, revealing the outside world at the other side.

Turning behind ever so slightly, he suppressed yet another sigh as he glare with a deadpanned look the wrecked structure.

"Huh... Yeah, I... meant to do that..."

Holding Rebellion in front of him so that they could be _face to face,_ he addressed his old partner one more time...

"Listen, if anyone ever asks, evil bunny of doom did all of this..."

Taking one final glance at his most recent _work_, Dante began to walk towards the newly found exit.

"Good thing I'm all alone right now..."

Finally out of the ravaged playground of the odd beast, he decided to take a moment and rest for a little while.

Ebony and Ivory had returned to their sealed forms and Dante was simply putting them back inside of his pocket. And as for Rebellion...

The sword was pretty much gone, the only evidence of the ancient weapon having been there at all were the lingering cracks of red light on his arm.

Still, he didn't pay them too much attention, merely shaking them off with a single arm swing before hiding his silver amulet beneath his clothing again. A single red spark coming out of the jewel on it's center.

Looking up towards the sky, Dante confirmed something that had been bothering him for a while.

The dimensional barrier was still functioning, so the jewel seed wasn't the cause behind it.

"Well, it's not as if that thing had what it takes to use something like that anyway"

He hadn't been the one to set it up, that much he knew, so there was still the possibility, as slim as it was, of the ancient relic been the one responsible for it.

"So much for that. Oh well, if worse comes to worst, I can always break out the old way"

Pushing the minor inconvenience away, Dante began to take a stroll around the place, looking around for nothing in particular.

The outside of the building looked just like the rest of it by now, with only two major differences.

It didn't have any walls, so there wasn't so much rubble lying around. It had plenty of charred cars though.

And unlike the inside, it had a crater 10 feet in diameter right at the center of the main wing.

As it turns out, the fight had made them end up in the exact same parking lot he had intended to go in the first place. With the annoying distraction finally out of the picture, he now had the chance to take the next step in his so called _plan_.

Reporting his status to his commanding officer.

"This is going to suck, that's for sure"

Taking one hand out of his pockets, Dante activated his personal communicator. A light-green, holographic screen pumping apparently out of nowhere.

Moving his index finger towards one of the speed-dial buttons, only to stop just before actually pressing it while looking in between the one he was about to use as well as the one next to it. After the third round, he simply dropped his raised arm to the side and rub his face with the other one.

"Be a fool or be a coward, huh..."

"...Oh! what the hell, might as well get it over with"

His finger once again moving towards his first choice...

And then went and turn off the whole screen.

"...This is a lot harder than I thought"

* * *

><p>"So, let me see if I understood that well..."<p>

Chrono's voice was actually quite even and serene, but as unappropriated and out of place as it would seem for a lecture, at least for most people, it didn't fooled Dante one bit.

He simply let out another sigh and looked back at the screen in front of him with a dull expression, while Chrono himself ignored this too and continued his speech with a still collected voice.

"You're saying that, after confirming that the artifacts archeologist Scrya and you found were actual lost logias, you were ambush by some unidentified assault mechs, and that during the resulting skirmish _you_ ended up blowing the ship the Sankt Kaiser Church research board had assigned for the expedition..."

"After that, _you_ made a supplies-carrier ship of the TSAB that was heading to one of our bases near a frontier with an Orussian world, go out of its course so they could pick you and the now identified relics..."

"And that at some point along the way, you were attack... again... this time damaging the cargo area of the ship and forcing the supplies as well as the lost logias to be ejected..."

"With the later landing on an inhabited, non-administrated world..."

There were several times when Dante wanted to interrupt the other boy so that he could try to explain himself. That the circumstances had been a lot more complicated than what he had just said and that, even if rash and spontaneous, his decisions had been intended for the best, and had even worked... to a certain extent at least.

But he knew better than that.

At the moment, the only thing he could do was simply wait until Chrono felt it was enough with pointing out his _mistakes_.

"Then, for some reason, _you_ decided to go out on your own, without informing your superiors, nor the rest of your squad or the crew of the vessel..."

It wasn't easy though, especially with how Chrono made sure to make it clear when he was talking specifically about him. Hell, he was literally pointing at him every time.

"Only for your teleportation to be jammed and _you_ ending up in a city... how far away from the actual coordinates it was again?"

Finally making a pause, Chrono turned to his side waiting for an answer from one of their operators.

"217 kilometers"

And with that answer came an opportunity for Dante to get back at his childhood friend.

Now paying more attention to the newcomer, Dante flatly ignored the lecturing officer in favor of greeting his old friend with a grin, half friendly and half mischievous.

"Hey there, Amy. How ya been?"

Amy, pushing Chrono away so that she could enter the conversation, returned Dante's grin with one of her own. It wasn't just a casual, friendly greeting, it was an invitation.

An invitation to throw Chrono off his white horse with good, old fashioned teasing. A sort of tradition between the two friends.

"Hello Dante, it's been a while, hasn't it? I hope you're not having a hard time out there"

"AMY! Don't just barge in here like that! I'm not done with..."

"Me? Nah, just the usual crappy luck of mine every now and then, but nothing important. Although, I could do without our boy scout's lectures..."

"Wh-what did you ju..."

"Oh, don't be like that. You know Chrono can't help but to be a goody two shoes, that's just who he is. We shouldn't try to change him, just accept him for what he is..."

"You don't have to say it like that!"

"Hmm... maybe. He really needs to learn to take it easy though, even if just a bit"

"Hey, you just can't ignore me like that..."

"Well that's true. We're always worried for him, but he never listens. I feel as if I'm just waiting to find him dead on the floor for overstressed..."

"Well, he is quite the workaholic, and he never listens to our advices even if we're just trying to help, I mean he is still so young..."

"What!... no, more importantly... YOU TWO ARE THE LAST PEOPLE I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT NOT LISTENING TO OTHERS!

Finally taking pity on his hyperventilating friend, Dante addressed him next.

But, of course, he wasn't quite done with the teasing just yet...

"You see? That's what I'm talking about. You need to relax dude, you'll live longer..."

It was at that moment that Chrono's remaining patience just broke down. Deciding to remember his two subordinates that he was still their superior officer, using the first thing that came to his mind as a comeback comment.

He should have thought it through.

"I'm still your superior officer, in case you two had forgotten, and not to mention Dante..."

"...?"

"I am older than you..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Indeed, that last comment had made them stop, although probably for all the wrong reasons.

Now, Chrono was not an idiot, slow in some matters, somehow out of touch with the current youth and perhaps a little bit dumb when it came to making clever comebacks and teasing others, at least if it was against Dante, but certainly not an idiot.

The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he was screwed.

He really wanted to said something else, but he just couldn't bring himself to say anything at all.

And he wasn't alone, with Dante and Amy both just looking at him in silence.

As per the norm, it was Dante the one who broke the awkward silence.

"...Yeah... like for 9 or 10 months anyway.."

Desperately trying to figure something to save himself while fighting back the embarrassment that was building up in his head, Chrono just yelled out the first coherent thought that came to his mind... and sealed his demised.

"Hey!... that's more than enough time for a baby to be born..."

And it was probably because Dante was starting to feel bad for Chrono, that he began to act a little bit more respectfully, going as far as to rise his hand before making his next comment.

"Are you blushing?"

Or maybe not.

"..."

And like that, it was Chrono the one that became as silent as a grave.

Before the awkwardness could return, and with a quick look at each other, both Dante and Amy decided to put an end to their friend's torture.

"You know, Amy, I think we just broke him..."

"I believe we did..."

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Dante ran a hand through his white hair and spare another look at the still petrified Chrono.

"But seriously, what's up with you getting all flustered like that?..."

When no response came from the boy, Amy continued in his stead.

"Well... he's just not ready to deal with some things yet..."

She tried her best to defend their previous victim, but it would have been better if she hadn't done so.

"So you're saying mister Shinning Knight here can face off with terrorist organizations, evil megalomaniacs, and savage, dark creatures of nightmares but he just can't deal with simple stuff like _the bees and the birds_... I would have never seen that one coming..."

"No, I don't think that's it, this is actually new..."

And just to test it out, Amy waved her left hand in front of Chrono's face a few times.

To her relief nothing happened on the boy's end.

"Well, maybe he just couldn't handle the lameness of that remark of his and just shut down..."

And with Dante's dry comment, both he and Amy started yet another conversation while once again disregarding Chrono's presence.

Sighing in a somewhat depressing fashion, Amy picked up their talk session.

"I know it's rather odd, I'm worried about it too..."

They became so entrapped in discussing their friend's lack of skills in some subjects, that they never noticed him leaving the room nor his return two minutes later.

* * *

><p>"...all I'm saying is that you need to watch out for stuff like that, you're the one that should be concerned the most girl"<p>

But before Amy got the chance to answer back, her attention was brought back to Chrono after he drop several folders and even some loose sheets of papers on top of her computer unit.

And for some reason the moment Dante saw that he began to looked really uneasy.

"You know... Dante..."

"_I've got a bad feeling about this"_

Just like at the beginning, Chrono's voice was so calm and collected, but there was one important difference.

There was a certain eerie undertone in it that made Amy tried, in vain, to back away.

As for Dante, he already knew what was coming, sort of, so he decided to simply stood his ground and wait for the inevitable.

All the while Chrono continued with his statement as he flipped through some of the folder's pages.

"I've been checking on your quarterly evaluations and it seems that you finally began to catch up with the reports of your cases..."

At those words he tapped the very top of the pile of documents.

"_Oh, sometimes I just hate to be right"_

"And I'm surprised, really. Being able to finish all the work that you neglected for the last 4 months in just 1 week..."

Chrono spared a look at Dante after he finish saying that, and returned Dante's startled look with a grin of his own.

"Quite impressive indeed..."

That unnerving vibe from before growing stronger with each word spoken.

"It would be a pity if all that hard work of yours went to waste if, well I don't know... someone were to throw all your reports out. And of course... I mean out of the ship"

For a few moments Dante didn't do anything other than look back at Chrono with his mouth mid open. But that didn't last long and the moment the full implications of those words were felt, Dante lashed out at him.

"What?! Hold on a sec there! You can't possibly mean _outside_... as if in outer space!... do you?"

"Well, for all intents and purposes, the Arthra _is_ a spaceship Dante, and we are currently on the way to Mid-Childa through means of space-travel, so... yes that is precisely what I meant"

"Oh, come on! That's just uncalled for. Sure I may have stepped out of the line a little bit before..."

"_Just a little...?"_

Amy had opted to stay out of the clash of egos that was about to be unleashed, but a part of her really wanted to just point out how both of them were equally at fault.

Of course, doing that would force her to admit her own fault as well and more importantly, turn herself into a potential target for the frustrated wrath of the two boys.

She knew perfectly well that her chances of surviving that unharmed were close to zero, so she stuck to her plan of staying quiet next to the pissed off Chrono and begging that once he was done with Dante he wouldn't be so merciless with her.

"But that doesn't mean you just can take it that far...! I mean, if you really are that mad at me, you can always punch me or something once I'm back, not destroy my whole work! Do you have any idea how much I had to went through to get all that done?!"

At some point during Dante's rambling, the triumphant smile on Chrono's face disappeared and by the time Dante was done it had been replaced with an uncaring look.

"I can imagine. But unfortunately, unlike you I'm not a supporter of such simplistic solutions like _punching you or something_, besides it's been 2 months since you showed up last so you're not exactly reliable on that end either"

"Hoh. So now you're gonna use that against me too, well that _is_ fair"

"Sigh. You really need to relax Dante, I said_ if_ that happens, didn't I?"

That seemingly out of the blue comment was more than enough for Dante to lower his guard, even if just a bit. He as well as Amy looked back at Chrono, whose expression was once again at that serious and reserved state he was known for, and against all common sense Dante decided to move at his pace.

"Uh huh? So you're saying you won't throw them away?"

"Of course not. Why would I do that anyway?"

For the briefest of moments Dante actually believed Chrono's words and he was even willing to admit defeat for the sake of his work's safety. But that never happen because a second later Dante realized how much of a fool he had been.

Ironically, it hadn't been a moment of clever insight on his side nor a mistake on Chrono's, it had been something far more mundane what showed Dante his error.

The background behind Chrono.

For most part of the conversation, the only thing Dante could see past his two friends were the few operators that were on duty in the Arthra's bridge, which at most were 3, 4 including Amy, although Dante had the feeling that she was only tagging along Chrono rather than being on call herself.

It was that and the vast empty space of... well... space.

But all that change just a second after Chrono _cleverly_ answered Dante's question with another question.

It wasn't that notorious at first. For all Dante knew he might just be tired and that was messing his vision, or maybe it was just some sort of static when he saw a few white tiny dots on contrast with the black void.

But when the dots grew in number until they became a swarm, it was then that Dante finally connected the dots, so to speak

"YOU DAMN JAKCASS...!"

"What?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know. You freaking threw them, dammit..."

Even if Chorno, unlike Amy, didn't bother to turn around after Dante pointed towards the background, he still answered back.

"I was only talking about this reports here..."

And once again Chrono tapped the top of the pile that was next to him.

"Since I haven't read them I can't tell for sure if they're useful... Those however..."

Again Chrono didn't bother to turn around but he did jerked his thumb to the back.

"...were pretty much useless"

And it was then Dante's turn to be petrified due to the shock of having the fruit of the 7 days and 6 nights worth of typing been reduced to nothing more than useless paper drifting away in the cosmos.

"..."

"...WHAT THE HELL...! WHY DO I EVEN NEED TO WRITE STUFF LIKE THAT ANYWAY...! DO PEOPLE EVEN READ THAT CRAP...! JUST WHY IS IT THAT..."

Not willing to waste any more time than it had been done so far, Chrono put an end to the other boy's rant.

"I do bother to read them, even that mess that you always intend to pass as work. As for what we use them for..."

"Dude, you seriously want to give me another lecture now..."

"Hear me out here, they have many uses. From historical documentation to budget management, AND in cases like yours..."

Dante wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he knew that it would suck, for him at least.

"...damage control"

It was funny actually, how Dante only realized about Chrono's deception by looking at was past him on the monitor, and yet it never occurred to him that the same thing cold be done on the other side, and that is exactly what Chrono did.

From the moment Chrono answered his call, he had been paying more attention at the background than to Dante.

And it just so happens that Dante never bothered to leave the parking lot from before. The same place he had broke apart just an hour ago with the same ruined building right behind him.

For a few more seconds neither enforcer did anything other than stare at each other with an even look on their eyes.

"...Just for the record..."

And like Chrono did before, Dante didn't looked back as he started talking again, he just jerked his thump backwards.

"...that's not smoke, that's dust..."

While Dante said those words, Amy paid more attention at the columns of dust (as he claimed them to be) that were rising from several of the holes along the damaged structure. Chrono probably did the same, but he didn't pondered on that too much.

Before long, the two boys had reassumed their stare contest, but before the whole cycle of dry comments and cheap comebacks could start anew and having figuring out that the worst was over, Amy stepped in and tried to get her two friends' attention back on track.

"Now that you two are over with your greeting and with catching up, can we go back to the mission report, please?"

Chrono and Dante eyed each other for a second longer before conceding to their friend.

"Sigh, all right then..."

"Sigh, sure what the heck..."

"So, where exactly was I?"

Amy had to suppressed a sigh at Chrono's question unless another outburst of rage would be released with her as the target.

"About the teleportation being jammed..."

"Ah, right"

"And no longer than 10 minutes after you arrived you were attack again, this time by one of the lost logias that had activated and went berserk, th..."

"Evil bunny of doom, that's what I call it"

"... ...Suit yourself, I'm not going to call it that though"

"Sigh, you're just not fun"

"Uhm... By the way Dante?"

"What's up Ames?"

"I've been wondering this for a while but..."

Chrono wasn't exactly happy when Amy interrupted him yet again, but he let it slid in the hopes that this time it was for something more serious.

"You're inside of a barrier, aren't you?"

And Chrono let out a sight of relief.

"Well yes... I am, actually. Really, I'm surprised you could tell just like that"

Amy began to giggle a little bit, but what was strange was that it seemed to be a rather nervous laugh.

"It wasn't really that hard...hmm... You did sai that it only took you an hour to deal with the evil bunny of doom..."

Amy just ignored Chrono's twitch as she continued.

"And we've been talking for another 30 minutes. If in all that time nobody ever showed up at such a scene well... ...that was my first clue"

"Oh! Umm... good guess... I guess"

"That and the fact that I ran a quick scan of your area and found out the reaction signal of an active barrier"

"You scanned..."

"...Scanned the area..."

"Wait, you're saying you could do that all along and didn't bothered to tell me"

"Wait, you're saying you could do that all along and didn't bothered to inform me"

It was rather surreal for Amy when she received almost identical reactions from both sides. Desperately trying to avoid her past fear become true, she frantically began to explain herself.

"It's not like I was hiding it, and it isn't really what you think. I can't get a full reading, I was only able to get a lecture from the really high fluxes of energy, and that was just because Dante acts as an amplifier for magical energy..."

That was a good enough response for Dante, after Amy finished he drop the whole matter and finally began to look back at the destroyed building. Chrono seemed to consider something for a bit longer before returning his attention to the present too.

"Wait, so you were the one that set it up, Dante?"

"Huh? As if. You know I suck at stuff like that, there's no way I could've done it"

"Sigh, you don't have to be so blunt about something like that..."

"Then how come you're in one right now"

"Amy... I have no idea. It was already like that when I woke up and I can't remember what happened right before I was ambushed, so who kno... …!"

And once again, Dante ended up froze on the spot with another rather silly expression on his face.

"Wha... what's wrong with him now?"

"I don't know, but I can tell... Whatever it is, it's going to make my headache even worse"

"Oh! That's right! I totally forgot I had this with me"

Having said that, Dante began to reach for the inside of his coat again. Knowing that he was about to pull off another _surprise_ in more than one way, Amy and Chrono just waited as their other friend kept looking through some of the inside pockets.

To this day no one was sure how many hidden pockets Dante's coat had nor what sort of stuff was kept in them, but there were always people trying to guess. Both Amy and Chrono weren't among those, they had had enough experiences regarding that when they all were still in the academy.

And they couldn't help to remember one of those moments, which included one of Dante's many attempts at creating new pizzas recipes and a really angry chef who wasn't particularly fond of people trespassing to his kitchen.

"Ah! Found it"

But before they could recalled just how was it that such situation ended up with said kitchen covered entirely with flour, the cafeteria filled with olives and one of the lobbies in flames, they were saved by Dante and in an ironic twist it was thanks to him pulling something out of his coat.

It was a small card, not like the one that were his twin guns but rather small, the size of an ID card and it even had a strip-mark going across it. Only that said mark was glowing with a set of alternating colors, not unlike the ones that were visible on the distorted sky above Dante's head.

"What exactly is that?"

"Well Amy, my dear friend, this... is something that I borrowed from our good friends at the R&D section. It's supposed to be..."

"Able to create a small distortion in the space continuity of a given area, which would later be reconfigured through a magical equation pre-set within the device memory bank into a functional barrier, a device meant to be used in emergencies by the Disaster Prevention Department, right?. And if my memory serves me well, it was kept at the Engineering Division because it was yet to be tested"

Chrono interrupted Dante's explanation in order to provide it himself, apparently not too happy that his earlier prediction about his headache had come true. Well that, and because Dante still had that sly grin of his.

"Yep, precisely that. I'm sure that Mary and her department will be happy to know that you keep up with their work"

"You realize that by taking that with you, you could have ended up not only killing yourself but also wiping out a whole city too, don't you?"

"Maybe, but it wasn't like that was it?"

Rather than trying to continue with the argument, Chrono just let out a sigh of resignation.

"You know, I'm not sure what is more exasperating, the fact that you have one of the stupidest death wishes I ever seen, or the fact that you keep smiling every single time you face it..."

"What can I say, I live life until it hurts, and then some more..."

"That's not funny Dante, things could have turned out pretty bad there"

Seeing that Amy decided to take Chrono's side for a change in one of those rare occasions where she felt he was acting way too carelessly, Dante flinched a little bit.

Now, it wasn't as if Dante didn't thought Chrono was partially right, but it was when he heard Amy's worried voice that he decided to concede a little to the other boy.

"Ok ok, I get it, geez. But to be fair, it's not as if I tought on using it inside of the city, I didn't even remember that I had these with me. This one probably activated after evil bunny of doom ambushed me and I crashed on that building"

"Just how many of those do you have?"

"Well, I took a whole package, but I left most of them at the ship, hmm... right now..."

Dante returned a hand to the inside of his coat, searching for any other borrowed gizmos, and since he was only doing a quick check inside it didn't took him long to respond

"Three including this one"

"And should I assume that by _borrowed_ you meant you stole them?"

"Me? Steal? Oh, you hurt me, my friend"

"Right, because I'm sure you just took them without anyone knowing and were planning on returning them before they could tell"

"Pretty much, yes"

"You just admitted robbery..."

"First of all, it is not illegal until they find out, and besides I'm being honest here, that should count for something"

"Honest about deceiving"

"There you go again, always seeing the glass half empty. That is why everybody says you're a downer. And don't forget, thanks to me now this little things can be put on use"

"You just said that was an accident and that you didn't knew you had them (and who calls me that?)"

"A well intended accident"

"There is no such thing..."

"Huh... Who are you now, the creator of things?"

"You know, I should hav expected no less from a former thief, once a criminal..."

"Hey that's a cheap blow. And besides you people are the odd ones, with your dragging rules and annoying, useless reports that nobody reads..."

"I just told you that I..."

"Seriously, sometimes I just feel like ditching it all and start anew as a freelancer or something"

"If you were to do that Dante, you would be regarded as AWOL, and given your status not to mention your situation with the Sankt Kaiser Church, you would be given top priority"

"So...? What's your point?"

"Exactly this, if that were to happen, then I would use everything I got to track you and take you down"

"Hoh, so you're finally showing your true colors huh, the tyrannical jerk bullying on the free-spirited"

"Typical of a criminal to play the victim..."

"Heh, bring it on then Mr. Hero"

"Well, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Aren't you?"

"I... would be the one..."

"... to win in the end... because..."

"...I AM JUSTICE!"

"...I AM JUSTICE!"

"..."

"_...Woooow..."_

That was the only thought that Amy and everyone else at the Arthra's bridge had after witnessing the bizarre exchange. Luckily for most of them, they could just pretend not having seen anything of the embarrassing display and ignore them.

Amy on the other hand...

After realizing that the two boys wouldn't back off from their staring match on their own, she took it up to herself to draw their attention back on track. With a still embarrassed and weak voice she called to them.

"Hmm... If you two are finally done with... whatever that guy's thing was... could we please go back to work?"

"Uh... Sure, go ahead (what's wrong with you anyway?)"

"(Please... don't ask)"

Dante's short answer and Chrono's serene attitude were enough to make Amy cry out in frustration, well almost. Instead she only sighed out loud as she rubbed her face with her hand. Seriously, they seemed to be ready to jump and attack the monitor just a few seconds ago and now they acted as if nothing happened at all and made her look like she was the crazy one.

"Well, even when you failed in your ridiculous attempt at being the lonesome hero, something good did come out of it this time..."

"Hey, what do you mean with _this time_?"

"_That's all you have to say?"_

Again, Amy though it would be for the best to keep her remarks to herself and fortunately for her, Chrono's next question gave her time to cool her head a bit more.

"Amy, you said that you were able to get some readings on unusual peaks of energy, did you got something on the lost logias?"

Just like with Amy, that question was more than enough for Dante to forget anything about his urge to punch Chrono in the face and focused all his attention back to the female operator.

"Way ahead of you, I started searching for something like that when I first began the scan, but because of how far apart we are, it was proving difficult. I have to thank you Dante, had it not been for you being there I wouldn't even be able to get a reading"

"Uh... don't sweat it..."

Dante wasn't sure how to feel at that, either Amy was calling at his luck, which in itself was already half teasing and half a compliment, or she was actually referring to him as a sort of transmitter. Then again, at the moment he was more interest in her work than her comments.

"Well, did you got something or what?"

It was Amy's turn to have the sly smirk on her face, apparently founding the idea of her other friends now been kept waiting quite gratifying.

"Of course I did, while you boys were too busy with your testosterone-driven fighting, I was analyzing the lectures, searching for anything that could resemble the readings that I got from Dante's position. And I was able to get the exact number of other anomalies in that area..."

"Ooh... Well then, what did you found?"

"Right, including the residual energy of the jewel seed that you just sealed, within an area of 1873 km2 I found... …! Wait, wha..."

"What's wrong?"

Neither Chrono or Dante knew what was that had surprised Amy like that, but they didn't needed to be mages above the A rank, nor being acquainted with the girl for years to know that such reaction couldn't possibly meant anything good.

Looking back to them from her computer, she began to explain herself again.

"Aah... It's... up until just now I had received three separate readings, but just now..."

"Let me guess, they increased..."

Dante had never been one you could call optimistic. Sure, his personality and character might be slightly upbeat, but when it comes down to his work, he would never stop from being realistic.

That's why it was so rare for him to offer the less troublesome possibility.

"No, that's not..."

"Then, they reduced in number..."

And it was Chrono whom ended up _guessing_ right.

"...Yes (could you two please stop interrupting me). Just now one of the readings disappeared completely, I've been trying to track it down but, there aren't any traces left"

"So they finally made their move, huh. Well, if I'm surprise of something is the fact that it took them so long to take action..."

Since Dante wasn't actually looking at them when he said those words, he didn't saw the looks that Amy and Chrono share with each other for a second.

"Actually Dante, there is something that we... pfff... I... should have told you earlier..."

Ignoring the pain that came with Amy's elbow as it hit his side, Chrono continued.

"Is about your friend, Scrya"

"Yeah, what about... …! Wait, don't tell me he..."

And just like that, the twitch on his eyebrow that Dante thought was gone along with evil bunny of doom returned to prove him wrong.

"He went out on his own, didn't he?"

"..."

"...Pretty much..."

"Hmm... I see... …THAT... FREAKING... MORON...!"

Dante's scream was so intense that it made Amy and several others at the bridge flinched.

"What the hell is he thinking, that idiot? Is he insane? Is he? I mean, as if I don't have enough crap going around already..."

"Yeah, well you're not one to talk either"

"Hey, that's different, I'm used to this stuff already, I see it daily. Hell, I do this for a living. That guy is a freaking bookworm... Hold on, when did he even leave?"

"Right before you, according to the captain of the Galatea"

"...? Who's that?"

"... You're kidding, right? The ship that is now damaged after you dragged it in all of this"

"Oh, that. Well I couldn't help it, alright. Wait, right after me... then did he got diverted from course too?"

"No, according with the report they sent, he managed to reach the area where the lost logias landed. It seems that whoever is responsible for the attack couldn't predict his movements because he used his own teleportation spell, instead of the ships systems"

"So he actually ended up where most of the other relics are, huh. And just at the same time whoever attacked us in the first place starts to go after them too. Sigh, does he want to give a heart attack or something?"

"_You're not one to talk..."_

Again that was the thought that most people at the bridge shared.

"You're not one to talk..."

But it was Chrono the one who actually voiced it out.

"But I agree with you, this is quit troublesome. If we, who aren't even near that area, know of how the lost logias are separated right now, then it's obvious that they know too"

"I know, and if they were really taken by surprised with the ferret's actions, I don't really think they would take the chances of him being or not a tread...

"Indeed, and not to mention that it is there where most of the logias are..."

"So it's pretty much a given that someone was send there to get to them before anyone else..."

"Most likely, not to mention that given how things may look like for them, whoever is there has to be a highly skilled individual. Of course, there is always the possibility of more than one person working on this"

"And that means that whoever is in here with me is probably just a small grunt..."

"Well, don't forget that..."

"(Wait... Wha-what is going on here. Now they're acting as actual friends. Just... what's wrong with them...?)"

While Amy was already so used to their mood swings in their friendship, it was pretty much a given that one or two people would always be at a lost when they saw it for the first time, like all the other people at the ship's bridge

Still, regardless of how infuriating it could be for some people when Chrono and Dante would just act well, like Chrono and Dante, it was at least reassuring seeing them back on the right track. Then again...

"(Sigh. You two are just unbelievable)"

"Hmm... Did you said something, Ames?"

"N-no no, nothing at all"

"Well, all things aside Dante..."

"...?"

"What do you plan to do now?"

"Sigh... Honestly, nothing at all"

"Is that so?"

"You guys aren't gonna asked why?"

"We believe it's best if we don't"

"Well, then I'll tell you anyway. Amy, you said that there were only three readings here in Tokyo"

"Yes, but..."

"And now we can count two down, so now I only have to worry about one. So might as well use the opportunity as bait and try to catch whoever is here with me"

"That's why told you I didn't want to know"

"But what about your friend? Aren't you worried?"

"Huh? You mean the ferret? Nah, he'll be fine. I mean, he's been working with me for like a year now and he is still in one piece"

"Is that so..."

"_So, the reason he was so mad before really was just because of the extra work?"_

"Yeah, so I would like to believe he can stay out of trouble just for one night"

"Well, from what I've heard, he's certainly nothing like you, so I guess it should be okay, probably..."

"Yeah!... probably..."

"At any rate. Dante the admiral already requested permission for the Arthra to take part on the investigation"

"Wait... Uh, so she knows?"

"Did you honestly thought she wouldn't know by now"

"I was more hoping rather than thinking"

"Of course you were. Still, permission was granted, however since we just finished with our previous assignment we're currently heading back to Mid-Childa, so it may take a while before we arrive"

"Riiiight, of course you will. Well, it's not as if I was counting with any backup coming soon. Anyway, this was fun and all, but I better get going now, so much talk and no action doesn't really suit me"

"Fair enough, but just one more thing Dante..."

Both Dante and Chrono locked their gazes one last time as the later finished his _final order_.

"TRY to think things through at least just once"

"Whatever dude, I'm heading back now (seriously, the story of my life...)"

And with those last words, the connection was cut, and the image of Dante and his work were replaced by the words of _Signal Lost_.

And not even 5 seconds passed before it opened again

"Say Amy. Would you mind telling me where am I supposed to go after I'm done in Tokyo?"

"... …Sure... is a placed called... uhmm Uminari, is..."

"Thanks Ames, that'll do just fine"

"But, how are you going..."

"I'll manage somehow, see ya"

And again he was gone. Everyone at the bridge waited for 7 seconds more and when nothing else happened they assumed that this time he was indeed gone for good.

"So there he goes. Seems like he got himself in another mess, though"

Chrono stood still just long enough for Amy to finish her sentence and then proceeded to leave the room, but not without answering back.

"More like he got _us _all in another mess"

Amy just giggled a bit at that before following the boy out of the bridge area.

"Well, that's a sign that he is doing fine, right? So... are you going to inform Lindy-san about this"

"I have to, that's the reason why he called in the first place, so that we would do it in his stead"

"Want some help with that?"

Chrono actually considered that for a few seconds.

"No, I think I can handle it..."

"Alright then"

"Wait, just like that..."

And indeed, after hearing his answer Amy just walked away in the opposite direction.

Alone with his task, Chrono just sighed one more time as he continued his way.

"At least that idiot isn't alone this time. Who knows, maybe having one or two people with him again will make things a little less chaotic"

* * *

><p>"Well, this sucks..."<p>

That was all Dante could said about how things had turned out. Not only was he alone right now while dealing with whoever the hell was trying to pull off this month's doomsday plan, but now he had to play baby sitter for the ferret, whom he still needed to find.

"First things first, though..."

Looking back at the little device in his hand, Dante ran his thump across the psychedelic-strip, and with just that the barrier that had isolated him and his latest battle literally dissolve. The once distorted colors that had covered the sky were replaced with the orange and purple from the dawn's break, and the once lifeless buildings and streets suddenly turn back to their more natural state, looking almost as if they were really alive, with all the movement and lights that littered around.

While such a sight might have been regarded as breathtaking by many, regardless if they were acquainted with magic and high level science or not, Dante simple looked at it with pretty much indifference and, considering his situation, no one could blame him.

And he couldn't help but feel really, really annoyed.

"Before... I only wanted to kick your ass..."

He began talking to himself and with each word said, a creepy smile began to form on his lips.

"Now, however... I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you good, you damn ferret..."

But as soon as he said that, he returned to his more traditional, confident smile.

"Well, better get going now, I guess"

But he didn't took more than three steps before a sudden noise made him stop. A noise that he had come to know very well.

_Crack..._

Looking back at the device still in his hand, he noticed that a small crack was appearing on its surface and just as he began to see it properly, it grew until it splitted the device in half.

"..."

He simply stared at the two halves held in his hand with nothing more than a raised eyebrow, before sighing again.

"Should have seen it coming..."

After putting the broken pieces inside of his coat, he began to move again.

"I really wish I could say this is new... ...Sigh..."

* * *

><p>"Now... This is what I'm talking about"<p>

For a person that was at the verge of going insane with anger, at that moment Dante had one of the biggest childish smiles he had shown in months.

And for a reason, after all what kind of healthy, energetic boy wouldn't enjoy a trip to Tokyo, specially if he were to be there on his own, without any sort of adult supervision dragging him around.

"Yep, things are finally going my way"

But of course, there weren't many out there who could say that they took a stroll around Akihabara in the same fashion Dante did.

"Hahahahahaha... this place... freaking rules!"

That was Dante's excited scream as he did a summersault from one of the building's rooftops to the next, just for the heck of it.

After all, why bothering walking around in sidewalks, or risking to be hit on the streets by a car, when you could just take to the safety of the rooftops, with their killer view, exciting jumping and more importantly, their lack of crying little kids.

Now it wasn't as if Dante had forgotten entirely about his job, not at all. But there wasn't much for him to do other than wait. He had no idea where the last jewel seed was nor where to find whoever was there with him hunting them down.

Now, he could have asked Amy for any particular clue, but that would had been too easy to work, and when you are as good as Dante was on his job, you need to find ways to make it a challenge. Then again, Dante's definition of being good at his job only went as far as getting the job done and nothing more, so there weren't many willing to agreed with his perception of his skills as an enforcer.

He does get the job done at least.

"Well, since I have no idea where is what in here, might as well look around and see what I found"

It was with that train of thought that Dante had first set off on his so called reconnaissance task. If it was up to him he would had take it to the sky, but considering that it was broad daylight, not to mention that he had no idea what sort of new toys the government had around he wasn't willing to take chances on ruining the secrecy. Who was he to say that in all the years he had been away things like the cyphers weren't now pat of the everyday surveillance system.

That was the only reason why he opted to keep a _low profile_ and moved around through the rooftops. Of course he was also trying to be as careful as possible, in his own way. Turns out the buildings in Akihabara, in particular the ones at Soto Kanada weren't as tall as he had expected and since it was now a lot more crowded that it had been during the dawn he had to be cautious.

Since his main concern was about not being seen there were only two choices he could take: being extremely careful and taking his time as he moved around as to not draw the attention of the people below, or moving so fast that they wouldn't noticed him, or at least not make enough sense of what they saw if they were to caught a glimpse of him.

Anyone that knew Dante even if just from one short conversation would immediately known which one he opted for.

Thankfully the noise that it was bound to big, crowded cities, specially those with big streets, was a big help in concealing his movements.

It wasn't until he was closed to reach the famous Manseibashi that Dante finally opted to change his plan of action.

"Alright then, lets see... hmmm..."

Coming ton abrupt stop, he began to look around for a bit.

"Yeah, I guess that'll do"

Spotting a narrow alleyway, he waited for a tiny window of opportunity, a small gap in the flux of people that kept going his way. If he waited and moved at the right moment then he could drop into the alley without being seen.

"C'mon, c'mon. I don't have all day, you know"

Finally after two young girls had finally past him, he took his chance. Jumping over the ledge, he fell from the 12 stories building, spinning a couple of times as he did so.

But that leap of faith wasn't the only thing that he chose to do. Just as he began his descent, his coat began to change. At first it wasn't that notorious but a deep red aura began to surround it, just like the aura that had emanated from his sword earlier that day. And as the gap between the ground and himself decreased, the intensity of the scarlet black-light grew, to the point where it seemed as if the coat was actually made entirely of it.

In no time, he reached the ground, landing without making any sound, and as soon as his feet made contact with the floor, the energy that swirled around him faded away, taking his coat with it and leaving Dante with just his standard enforcer uniform's black slacks and the black jacket he chose to wear beneath his coat.

Now, Dante would be the first to admit that his beloved coat was, for the most part, quite troublesome. From the beginning, it had been quite the challenge when he decided to wear his self-designed barrier jacket instead of the standard uniform.

In fact, in order to do so he had to achieve A rank as an enforcer, something that Dante wanted to avoid if possible. It really wasn't that difficult (especially since it's Dante we're talking about here) but the higher your rank is, then the more tedious the paperwork will be. But regardless the insane (in his mind) amount of work, it was a price worth to pay in exchange for the right to wear his signature garment.

And the other downside was that it was rather flashy. For the most part that never bothered him, not in the slightest, but in a situation like that one, with him in a city that was completely unaware of his status as a TSAB officer, it would be for the best if he stayed out of the spotlight.

Walking around the streets wearing a crimson red long coat wouldn't help him with that.

"Sigh... But I still love it"

And with a fond smile on his face Dante exited the alley and moved to the sidewalk, without a single soul suspecting of anything that occurred in there.

"Now then, where to go...?"

Given that loitering around could only be taken so far, he decided to focus on finding information about that Uminari city Amy mentioned. And if in order to do so he had to walk around the city's streets and the many shops and establishments that were part of it... then it had to be done. All for the sake of the mission, of course.

But then again, there was no rule that said he couldn't take advantage of it.

Bur before setting up in this new quest, Dante still needed to decide on a direction to follow.

And for some reason, the image of those two girls from before came to his mind. The blonde one with long hair, white short dress with the flower pattern and who was carrying a pink bad. And the other girl, the one that had caught Dante's attention the most, with purple hair, slightly longer than her friend's, wearing a light blue sweater and carrying a white purse with a lily brooch.

Really, it was quite impressive for him to have seen all that from his position at the building's top. Or it should had been if Dante were anything close to normal.

What actually caught his attention about them was that they seemed to be just the two of them. They were clearly younger than him by a couple of years, so it definitely stroke him as weird seeing the two girls walking around the streets of Tokyo alone.

"Hmmm. Well, it is Sunday and it's just..."

He took a quick look at one of the stores across street where a digital clock displayed the current time in red numbers.

"...10:13, so I guess is normal for the local kids to hang out around here"

He turned to his right, towards the direction the girls were heading before and then seemed to considered his options.

A second later, he fully turned his body in the same direction and began walking as well.

"Aaah. What the hell... what is the worst that could happen anyway?"

It was funny actually, being so close to that famous concrete bridge, were a police station and two rather famous train stations that, even if they were no longer open were still quite the touristic spot. Had Dante decided to go to any of those, it would had been an easy task for him to find out what he needed.

And yet he opted to go in the one direction that actually took him farther away from those places.

Rather than following a straight pattern, Dante actually ended up making several turns and deviations every time he caught sight of anything that he deemed as cool. Once again, given that we are talking about a 13 year old boy in Akihabara, it was not surprising that he ended up further inside the city, and yet he hadn't ask a single thing about that Uminari place.

But just as he was about to return to a more serious mood, his eyes caught sight of a sign that, regardless of the language it was written, he still recognized. A sly smile forming on his lips as he said the name.

"Laox..."

Now, what a better place to ask around for information than a big name shop like that one.

He took a glanced at the main gate...

"Nah, that would be to easy..."

And then at the top of the store and the other buildings around. It was then that his smirk, rather than his hair or clothes, began to attracted the attention of the people around. Moving around the streets as to get away from the eyes of others, he prepared to return to the heights.

"And I'm so glad I can say this is new..."

* * *

><p>"OI !...YOU DAMN BRATS... COME BACK HERE...!"<p>

"Hah... hah... hah... ho-how did it end up... like this?!"

Even if Suzuka asked that question, she knew the answer very well. And even if she had forgotten all she needed to do was to look right in front of her, to the other girl that was dragging her around the store's hallways.

"Geez... If you have the energy to talk then... try to run faster, they're catching up..."

"Mou... Alisa-chan, why did you had to go so far?"

"Me? It was does jackasses fault, besi... ...! ...Watch out!"

While being pursuit by a cliched gang is never a good thing, specially if you are a 9 year old girl, there are some advantages in it, for instance since your body would be rather small, ducking and rolling out of the way would be a much simpler matter.

Just as the two girls successfully tried, since a really big member of their pursuers group tried to seized them from behind.

"Tch. Stop moving around, you little..."

"Get them, dammit. The boss is coming now"

"Wha... For real. Yosh, that does it..."

Regardless of what could be said about those people, one thing was clear, whoever the hell was their boss, they certainly looked up to him, specially that guy who, at hearing of his leader's arrival, practically teared off his jacket in a moment of adrenaline, and prepare himself for a diving move.

Of course, Alisa didn't bother to pay attention to the crazed delinquent as she was far more preoccupied with finding a way out of their situation.

"_What now... We came into the store thinking that those morons would back away, but not only did they followed us, they scared most of the people away... Aah!"_

"Suzuka, this way..."

Practically yanking her friend by the arm, Alisa took a run towards a nearby door. She had no idea where it lead or if it was even open but as matters stood, she wasn't about to be picky.

And they moved out of the way just in time to avoid the now shirtless incoming assailant.

"FOR YOU ANIKI!... WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

_**CRASH...!**_

But of course, with the girls gone, rather than stopping after catching them, the poor guy actually kept going forward, until his advance was met by a glass window and then by a wall outside.

"Holy crap...! Soichiro just jumped out of a window!"

"Wha... Seriously?"

"We gotta help him"

"Forget about that"

"But..."

"They're getting away, dammit..."

Suzuka had no idea what the whole commotion behind her was about, but at that moment she had no interest in finding out. Her whole focus was, first in the door they were trying to reach and then in if the door would open at all.

To her relief, it did open and the girls wasted no time in getting to the other side.

"Wha-what the hell? You're kidding, right?"

"Alisa-chan... This is the storage area..."

While her friend's crying didn't brought any new information to Alisa, it certainly did made her nervousness reach new levels.

"Suzuka, be quiet or those creeps will..."

"Hoh, so NOW we're creeps, huh. You little..."

"Oh no... not now..."

When Alisa turned around and met the sight of pretty much every single one of those creeps (well, minus one) her first reaction was that of backing away and run for it along with her friend. However, given the secluded area that proved to be futile. Not to mention that for the short period that they weren't paying attention, the creeps managed to surround them, cornering them against a wall of boxes.

"Now... that's a nice look on your face"

At the sound of the new voice, the people in the room were divided in two groups based on their reactions. Group A (or rather Suzuka and Alisa) just getting more freaked out as their recognized it, and group B, with mainly everybody else in the room, turning towards the door at the other side and stepping aside and allowing the new comer to approached them easily.

Unsurprisingly, the boss of the band of creeps didn't looked anyway different than a stereotypical thug, wearing an old long jacket, with a dirty white shirt under it and torned pants, and a gold necklace on his neck.

"A-aniki, are you alright now"

But there were three things on him that stood out. One, despite of how worn out the shirt he wore was, there was a particular stain far bigger than the rest and quite fresh too. Two, while he had quite pronounced eye-bags, the black around the general area of his right eye could only mean one thing, a black eye, and like the stain, it seemed to be recent.

But above all else, there was smoke coming out of the guy's hair... Literally.

The moment he locked his eyes on Alisa, he rushed at her and seized her by her clothes.

_(thump... thump... thump...)_

"You little bitch, do you think you can make fun of me, humiliate me like that and then just walk away? Eh?"

"Bu-but it was an accident, and she already apologized and..."

Suzuka's words were cut off as she received an enraged glare from the guy.

"Apologized, you say..."

With great force, he slammed Alisa against the boxes behind her, Suzuka going immediately after her. Thankfully for them, the cardboard boxes only contained some sort of fabric. Still the force she had been thrown with had been serious.

(thump... thump... thump...)

"Tell me then... what kind of apology involves KICKING A GUY IN THE BALLS?!"

"Tch... A kick isn't all someone like you deserves. Just what kind of weirdo makes a move on elementary school girls"

"A-alisa-chan, please..."

"That's it, I had it with you, I..."

(THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...)

"OI! SOICHIRO! I told you to cut it out with the sound effects dude"

"But aniki, Sochiro isn't here..."

"Yeah, he was the one that jumped out of the window..."

(THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...)

"Huh... Seriously? What the hell is that then?"

It is often said that miracles happen in ways we never expect and when we less expect them. And for Suzuka that stayed truth, for all she begged to whatever force was listening, she never expected that the distraction she asked for would come in such an odd manner. She wasn't about to complain though.

_**(THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...)**_

And as for what happened next, not in even in her wildest, sugar induced dreams, could Suzuka ever came up with something as crazy as to what followed.

After noticing that the weird noise was coming from above, all eyes in the room moved to the ceiling.

And the first person to find out just what the hell it was turned out to be the gang leader.

"Hey I think it's in the du..."

"Wooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhh, coming doooooowwn!"

_CRASH...!_

A response that came in the form of a yell and then the vent of the ventilation ducts that had been right above crashing on top of him.

"Seriously. Just what in the world...?"

Suzuka could only shake her head to the sides to her friend's question as the two looked at what had happen right in front of them.

"Hahahaha... Man, that was fun. Guess I can scratch _pull a Solid Snake stunt_ from my to do list..."

Both girls couldn't help but glare at the boy that had literally dropped out of the sky, well technically the ceiling, and crushed their problems, as bizarre as it might sound. But when said boy turned his attention at them, locking his blue eyes with theirs and flashing a smile that looked half friendly and half crazy, looking back and sweating drops were the only things they could do.

Since he fell right next to them all he needed to do was to turn towards them and, since both Alisa and Suzuka were still crouching, he looked down at them.

"Well, but if it isn't you two. So, mind telling me what are we doing?"

But before they could say anything someone else at the other side of the room beat them.

"A-a-aniki...!"

"You asshole, what do you think you're doing to the Boss"

"Huh...?"

Clueless at first, Dante's unasked question was answered when he looked back at the two girls, who in returned look at the floor below him.

Reaching down, Dante lifted up the unconscious body that he saw and began shaking him like he was some sort of old rag doll. He then began to look alternately between the body he was holding, the two girls beside him and the dozen and a few people at the other end of the room with a look of bewilderment.

"Hmm... Is this what you're looking for?"

"You bastard, release our boss this instant!"

"Geez, relax dude. You people are making quite the fuss even though you're the ones that made all this mess, I'm just the guy that dropped of a vent."

"What?"

"And what do you know you dumb-ass you just got here anyway"

Was the clever comeback said by another thug.

Rather than answer back, Dante just stood still as he took a pose of deep thought. After pondering something for a while, he finally answered with a rather blunt expression.

"Sorry, I just can't seem to think of a good reason why a bunch of high-school dropouts would cornered a couple of small girls"

The one that had talked to Dante first, apparently another big shot on their group, wasn't happy at all. He wasn't fond of Dante when he first showed up but now things were about to get ugly.

"Listen you, I do not care if you are a kid, I won't allow you to look down on us like that. I have you know that I used to be a yakuza apprentice until I took an arr...!"

_**BAM...!**_

And then the guy was sent flying across the room.

"Yeah, yeah... I've heard that one _a lot_ recently, but now you just took my elbow to your face, what about that?"

"Holy crap...! Daichi...!"

But before the other gang members could jump to action, Dante was tackled...

...from behind.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Alisa-chan, what are you doing?!"

"Tell me, are you an idiot? Do you want to die?"

After crashing face first in another set of boxes, Dante just glared at Alisa with a raised eyebrow as he rubbed his nose. And then proceeded to inspect her from many different angles, before settling to meet her face to face and with a hand on his chin, much to embarrassment of the blond girl.

"Wh-what's up with you?

And then Dante made what was possibly his worst mistake of the day...

"...Tsundere?"

Followed by Alisa snapping.

"Wh-wh-wh-who a-are y-you calling the queen of tsundere... YOU JERK!"

_**BAM...!**_

Contrary to what her broken voice and blushing face would indicate, Alisa managed to punch Dante in the face with enough force to send him flying away, taking the still unconscious gang leader along and crashing unto an awakening Daichi.

"_I didn't say queen though..."_

That was all Dante could gather as a coherent thought.

"_But, he didn't say queen..."_

And as it turned out, Dante wasn't the only one to share that thought, as every member of the gang came to the same conclusion. They had been dumbstruck by the turn of events, but that last scene freaked the hell out of them.

"But Alisa-chan, he didn't say queen"

"Huh...? S-so what, he was still a jerk for saying that..."

"But you still didn't have to go that far? Why do you always have to be so reckless? Just like earlier today..."

"H-hey, so what if I made that guy dropped his coffee on top, he is the one that didn't let go of it... and then hitting on us and touching your hair, that pervert"

"It was enough after you hit him once, you didn't have to go as far as set his hair on fire"

"But all I did was hit him in the face with a bat, he was the one that fell on a stove..."

"THAT'S NOT IT! Do you... have any idea... how mortifying it was for me... I really thought you were..."

As prideful as Alisa was, looking at her friend being at the verge of tears because of her was more than enough to cast her embarrassment and frustration away.

"Suzuka... I..."

"Ah, I see. This must be what they call a Manzai..."

And Dante's sudden intrusion made Alisa's hair shut upwards. Apparently everyone else there having been too engrossed in the conversation of the two girls to even realized that Dante had been watching just a few inches away from them.

"Wha-what the... you're still alive"

"Haha, yep... Still kicking around. I have to say though, nice punch"

It was while Dante was occupied patting the head of the two girls, much to their embarrassment and annoyance, that the remaining gang members began to take action, approaching them in an intimidating manner.

"Sigh... Feisty ain't they. 'Be back in a sec..."

With those words and after ruffling their hair a little bit, Dante turned around to face the incoming attackers.

"Alright, let me just ask this now. Sigh... are you people sure you wanna do this? I mean, contrary to what must people says I'm not a bully, so how about we just call it a day and we all go home, huh?"

"Arrgghhh, stop looking down on us, dammit"

"Eeeh... Is not so much as looking down on you... is more like... hmm... If life were a video game, then saving those two cute little girls would give me like, 100 points, but beating you up would give me like -200, or something like that..."

"..."

"..."

"... What the hell, that's totally looking down on us then..."

"Oh! Sorry then, my bad"

"Your... bad, huh..."

"Hey. Look who is back..."

"Aniki, you revived..."

"I WASN'T DEAD...! And you, I'm sick of you, suddenly coming out of nowhere, messing in our business, mocking us... WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

Again, Dante didn't answered right away, but rather seemed to take his time.

"Well, for starters... One hell of a badass, won't you say?"

Dante's answer as well as the smile that he had as he said it were the finishing touch needed to make the gang leader lost his mind.

"YOU DAMN BRAT... THAT'S IT, I WILL..."

_**SLAM...!**_

"Would you SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Before anyone knew what happen, Dante had advance towards the enraged leader and hit him with an uppercut strong enough to send the poor guy upwards and getting him stuck in the same duct Dante had used to enter.

"Damn, you're voice is bugging the crap out of me..."

"...?"

But after spending a few seconds rubbing his head, Dante returned his attention back to the present and found the other gang members already advancing towards him.

"Sigh... Why is it that no one ever listens to me...?"

* * *

><p>"Well, that was a let down... I was hoping for a little bit more than just <em>lame<em>, like something more _dull_"

"Huh? How can you say something like that? Most people would just be glad to have gotten out of there in one piece"

"Sorry, but I think you're mistaking me for one of those sore losers, Alisa"

"He-hey, who gave you permission to talk to me so friendly? You damn perv"

"Sigh. You still going about that. Just how many times do I have to apologize for calling you the queen of tsundere?"

"Huh? I thought you said… Hey, stop making fun of me, is because of that your apologies are worthless"

"(Like you're one to talk)"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing... _(Just let it go Dante, just let it go...)_"

And that was how Dante and Alisa spend the remaining time waiting until Suzuka returned in complete silence. Usually, this would have bugged Dante to no end, but thankfully, just because they weren't talking didn't meant that there wasn't any noise going on around.

After Dante had finish with beating the lights out of the sore losers, as well as listing the many reasons why they should drop the whole _bad-ass gang_ play out loud, they took their leave from the store, this by jumping out of the same window that Soichiro dude had jump as well.

And by jumping, it meant Dante jumping while carrying the two girls along, just because apparently Dante was in the mood for it. And despite the kicking and screaming on Alisa's behalf, they were able to fall with style, which in Dante's words was worth a_ blast_.

But the escape was short lived as it would seemed that, prior to their encounter with Alisa and Suzuka, the group of thugs were on their way to fight a rival band, one that had spotted them as they chased the two girls and followed as well. So in order to stay out of trouble, Alisa and Suzuka opted to leave that area as soon as possible, with Dante tagging along for the sake of tagging along.

That being the reason why all three of them ended up in the streets between the stores of Akihabara, with Dante and Alisa waiting for Suzuka after she went to get some treats for them.

And despite of the silent treatment, although for Dante it felt more like a martial law, imposed by Alisa there were still plenty of stuff going on around them to keep Dante entertained.

_(hiza o kakaete heya no katasum...)_

For starters, the many stores that were at both sides of the road were quite busy dealing with the many costumers, the only exceptions being the stores that were close either because they only open during the mornings or because they were yet to open, at least that was what the timetables at the front of the buildings said.

_(yasashii uso ni ibasho mitsukete yume no naka ni nigekonda...)_

But while the stores themselves were quite lively, the streets were the ones that provided the most action, with people coming and going all over the place. Be it from end to end of the street that passed through the many buildings, or from one store to the next, people kept coming and going all around, in some cases carrying bags and other stuff that they purchased in one of those establishments.

In fact, it was because of that crowded street that Dante and Alisa opted to wait by one of the closed locals, supposedly as to try not being in the way of the people walking around, but in reality, it felt more as if it was in order to avid getting ran over by them.

_(__sabishisa kakusu ichizu na omoi...__)_

Yet, while both of them were leaning over the locked metal doors of the shop, right next to each other, their moods were quite contrasting, with Alisa being somewhat uncomfortable, at least that was what Dante assumed the stern glare she was giving to the floor meant. As for he himself, he was just enjoying the scenery.

_(hitomi no oku no himitsu suikomare sou na egao no ura no shinjitsu ni...)_

Really, it surprised him how even though Akihabara was such a hot spot in Tokyo for locals and tourist alike, tourist from many lands and worlds at that, it could still feel so natural, so peaceful despite of the movement around, like the kids that were playing with a soccer ball just a few feet from him.

_(__yoake no akai sora ni niji o egaite yami mo subete tsutsumikomu...__)_

As a matter of fact, it kind of reminded him of Mid-Childa somehow.

"(Guess smiles and laughs are the same everywhere after all)"

"What...?"

"Heh... Nothing, just talking to myself"

Alisa didn't knew a thing about their _savior_ (if he could even be call that) that was for sure, after all, how could you know anything relevant about someone after only knowing them for ten minutes. Well actually, there was one thing that was perfectly clear about Dante to her, he was quite the eccentric character.

Although in reality, eccentric wasn't good enough of a word to began to describe the _red joker_.

But, even without any sort of past experience with him, Alisa could tell right away that the expression that had appeared on Dante's face just moments ago was completely out of character for him. It had been quite an odd one too, like a mixture between his usual sly grin and a fond, almost nostalgic look on his eyes, the kind of reaction you would expect from someone that had just return home after years being away.

It may have been something trivial, but for some reason it ended up awakening her curiosity. So, she ended up trying to ask him.

"Sa-say... just now... uhm...?"

But as expressed before, Alisa had her fair share of pride in her, which made her attempt at breaking the awkwardly silent atmosphere she had created a titanic task in itself.

"Just now, what?"

And Dante's re-focused attention on her didn't make things any easier.

"Well... it's just that you... seemed...kind of..."

"Sorry for the wait"

But in the end, her attempt remained just like that, an attempt. All thanks to Suzuka's timed return.

Honestly, Alisa wasn't sure if she should feel angry or embarrassed, so she ended up picking both.

"Nah, I don't mind, AS LONG as you got _that_"

"You were lucky, it was the last slice"

"That so? Thanks then. Seems my day is finally improving somehow..."

While Dante still made a point on keeping some of his attention on the two girls, most of it had move unto the slice of pizza and the soda can that Suzuka was giving to him. And because of that he was taken by surprise when a soft laugh was heard from his side.

Turning to the direction of the sound while taking a bite of the warm meal in his hand, he met a smiling Suzuka looking at him with straightforward eyes.

"Actually, it is us the ones that should be saying that to you. Really, thank you very much for helping us"

For a brief moment Dante didn't say anything back, not because he was at a short for words, no, it was simply because he was rather busy chewing and swallowing the final bites of pizza while glaring back at the girls with a half blank-half curious expression. And when he finally answered...

"Sigh...Still going on about that, huh. I told you already, it was nothing, you don't need to keep thanking me nor making a big deal out of it..."

"We're the ones that are making a big deal out of it? You were the one that wiped the floor with all those people..."

Alisa's outburst was te result of many reasons. For one she wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of disregarding the beat up that Dante delivered to those poor morons as nothing. Sure, they may have been trying to hurt her and Suzuka, but after witnessing Dante using one of them as a skateboard or how he left 3 of them unconscious with a set of pool balls and a cue stick, even she felt sorry for them, even if just a little.

Another reason was that, she was really annoyed by Dante's reaction to Suzuka's gratitude. Hell, just watching Suzuka acting so grateful and sincere like that was enough to make _her_ blush and yet Dante only acted as if it bugged him.

"Hey, I held back. That was the only reason why I only used a bit of kiddie cqc on them"

"I... have no idea what you're talking about (and what part of that was _kiddie_)..."

But before any of them could continue, they were interrupted by the sound of Suzuka laughing, only this time it was a more relaxed and louder laughter. And they couldn't help but to join her in that.

Honestly, the whole situation had been so ridiculous that it was surprising how they didn't burst like that way earlier.

Once they got the chance to calm down a bit, Suzuka and Alisa focused on their own snacks, a couple of hot-dogs, while Dante turned to look towards the store that had caught his attention the most, one that was apparently holding some sort of event, with some loudspeakers.

_(...boku no namae o yonde... ano hi no you ni warai kakete...)_

"Did you like it?"

"First time hearing it, actually... but not bad. You wouldn't happen to know whose is it?"

"Sorry, first time hearing it too. What about you, Alisa-chan?"

"No idea"

Understandably, Alisa's answer was rather blunt.

"That so... maybe I'll look it up later..."

And when Dante caught sight of the same kids with the ball from before, it was the moment he chose to cut their little _date_ short.

"Well ladies, this was quite the event but I think..."

"Kyaaa...!"

But _fate_, being the unpredictable lady she is, decided otherwise.

Turning towards the screaming voice, which he recognized immediately as Suzuka's, Dante met the sight of the girl being held by some guy, and he deadpanned.

"Hehehehehe... Surprised, aren'cha?"

"..."

"...?"

"...!"

"Oi, say something dammit...!"

Unfortunately for the newcomer, Dante and Alisa were just to busy glaring in utter disbelieve at him. Or to be more precise, at his weird looks.

All right, they could understand the bare-chest thing (well, maybe just Dante). The no-shoes part, there could be many reasons why they were missing, but...

"Dude... why are you wearing a boot in your arm?"

"Dante, don't provoke him!"

"Hehe... If you must know, after the _Black tails _ambushed me at the back of the Laox building I had to use my boots as a weapon"

Alisa wasn't sure what was more ridiculous, the way he puffed out his chest while talking, how he raised his boot-wearing-arm as to show it, or the excited pride in his tone of voice.

But then something else came to her mind.

"You... you're one of those guys that were after us, right?"

"Exactly, I am the great Soichiro-sama, member of the..."

"Soichiro, huh. So you're the guy that jumped out of a window"

"I DIDN'T JUMP OUT OF THE FREAKING WINDOW... I FELL BECAUSE OF YOU DAMN BRATS!"

Honestly, Dante didn't care about the guy at all, he only said that before in the hopes of getting the guy to shut up and obviously he failed. Still, there was one last thing that he had to ask.

"Okaaaay, but... What's up with the rainbow-afro?"

"Huh...?"

When he reached for his head and touched the colorful ornament on it, he bursted in anger, reaping the thing off and revealing his bald, shinning head while stepping on the wig several times.

"Those damn bastards...!"

"DANTE...!"

But just as Dante was beginning to enjoy the display he got tackled again, falling face first into the floor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing. He has Suzuka, what if he does something to her?"

Dante didn't bother to look back at her nor he needed to listen at the worry on her voice, he simply got back to his feet, messed Alisa's hair a bit more and began to approach the other two as he rubbed his bruised forehead.

"Sigh. I know, I know. I'm on it"

"Oi oi oi, stay right there, don't you care what happens to this girl?"

Dante actually complied at that, coming to a stop just some feet away from them. He stood there, with one hand inside of his pocket while the other one was still holding the soda can, head slightly titled to the side and a curious look on his face.

"Actually I do care. That's why I was going there"

From the very beginning, Soichiro wasn't sure what to expect from the white haired boy. He was an odd one that was for sure, but beyond that he had nothing.

But one thing he never expected from Dante was him just staring at him.

"Wha-what?... What is it?"

"Sigh... You know, before I only said this to your friends half joking, but looking at you now, I can't help but to bring this up again..."

"...?"

"Are you sure you want to keep the whole gangster look? 'Cuz frankly, you suck at it"

"...!"

And that was the last thing anyone who was looking at the scenes unfolding expected to hear from the kid.

"What the hell did you just say?!"

"No... seriously, you should try and look for something else to do with your life, like..."

"...you damn brat... WHO THE..."

"I know! you should try with med-school. You know, since doctors are all the rage..."

"Are you kidding? Why in the world would I want to go somewhere like that?"

"Hey, it's not too late to go for a change, and if you can put some effort in your studies you might actually make it. And even if you don't, it would be a far better effort than... well, this"

"No, seriously... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!... And why would I even care about my studies. If that were the case, I wouldn't be ditching school every day, would I?"

"Wait, what? Just how old are you?"

"Huh? The hell are you asking now, I'm seventeen"

"..."

"..."

"...Wow... Then all the more reason for you to take it easy..."

"What the hell is wrong with you talking to me like that, you stupid boy"

"Hey, I may just be a kid, but you're the one that looks like is already seventy"

"YOU JUST ADMITTED THAT YOU ARE A KID! And what would you know about jobs and college anyway?"

"Actually, I already have a job, with insurance and all. I even pay living expenses with my salary"

"WHAT THE HELL...?!"

Dante would have enjoy watching the poor guy getting his brain in overdrive trying to make sense of his words, but at the moment there were far more pressing matters at hand.

While Soichiro was busy with his ramblings, Dante turned his eyes to Suzuka, still being held by the guy and with her mouth covered. It seemed that the girl never diverged her attention from Dante though, because as soon as he locked his eyes on her, she was already looking at him and thankfully that made things a lot easier.

With a very subtle movement of his head, Dante nodded towards the area beneath Suzuka's feet. Following his mark, the girl soon understood what he was trying to say. With a nod of her own that Soichiro probably mistook for some struggling, she let Dante know that she would follow his lead, which Dante then answered with a soft smile.

Finally setting with a plan, it was time for Dante to bring Soichiro back to reality.

"So... Let me just clarify this... You're not planning on giving up now, are you?"

"Huh? Like hell I'm gonna lose to some shitty brats..."

"Sigh... I thought as much..."

In a flash Dante's uncaring and bored demeanor changed into one far more serious and intimidating, the change was so sudden and notorious that it made all the people around take a step back out of instinct and Siochiro himself was no exception.

What he didn't notice though was that, in doing so he gave Suzuka the chance she needed. Taking the small window of opportunity, she actually let loose a kick but rather than aiming it towards Soichiro, it went straight to the soccer ball, which had been left aside in the commotion and ended up right behind them. Traveling all the distance between them and Dante, the boy received it with his knee and made it stop beneath his feet.

However and despite being taken by surprise, Soichiro was able to recover rather quickly and in no time he had increase the strength in his hold on Suzuka and returned his attention towards the blue-eyed boy.

"Just what the hell do you think you're..."

"Should've taken my offer when you could..."

Without wasting a second and with his cocky grin back in it's place, Dante let loose of a kick on the ball too. Of course, the strength behind his kick was completely different than the one Suzuka used and the ball was sent flying towards the jaw-dropped delinquent with the speed and precision one would expect from a pro.

"YOU FOOL... LIKE HELL I'M GONNA FALL FOR THAT...!"

But just as the ball was mere inches from reaching it's target and to the surprise of the whole crowd that had form in the small street, Soichiro was able to dodge the improvised missile by bending backwards, showing skills that would make any professional limbo player jealous.

Unfortunately for the guy, as soon as he did so he became aware of three things that didn't bode well for him.

First, he suddenly felt way lighter than before, specially his arms and when he moved his eyes to see why, he saw Suzuka now kneeling on the ground perfectly fine, with Alisa already moving to her side.

Second, now that his head was facing upwards, he caught sight of something red and of something else that glittered with the sunlight beyond that. It took his brain just one second to register what those foreign objects were...

A red coat and a soda can.

And lastly...

"You better clench your teeth, tough guy..."

...Dante's voice, which now sounded way too clear for someone that was suppose to be fourteen feet away from him. But when he moved his eyes to the side he understood why was that.

"...'Cuz this one's gonna hurt..."

Apparently, in that short lapse Dante had covered the distance between them and was now right next to him, a fist drew back at the ready and a kind of crazy smile adorning his lips.

With his body stuck in such a defenseless position and with Dante already about to attack there wasn't much Soichiro could do at the time...

So he clenched his teeth.

_CRACK...!_

It was the sound of Soichiro's jaw when it was hit by Dante's right hook, sending the guy flying across the street and forcing many of the people nearby to step aside before he crashed into a closed door.

Straightening up, Dante raised his right hand in order to get a hold on his beloved red coat as it fell down and extended the left one to the side as he caught the soda can, however the moment it fell within his grasp he threw it again high and ahead of him.

Walking forward, he shook his coat to the side once before proceeding to put it on in one swift movement, even flipping the tails a little bit afterwards.

He kept walking until he was right in front of Soichiro who, to the surprise of everyone else but Dante, was still conscious.

Standing tall and casting his shadow over him, Dante extended his arm as he once again caught the soda can that was about to fall at his side.

"But seriously dude... Med-school, you should give it a try... Hell, maybe if you do manage to graduate I'll punch again for old times sake..."

For a moment it looked as if Soichiro was about to respond, but in the end he only managed to let some sort of guttural sound out.

Turning to leave, Dante kicked the soccer-ball off the ground and began joggling it with his knee. He then turned back to Soichiro, flashing his trademark smirk before addressing him and the dumbstruck crowd one last time.

"Well... Have a nice day..."

And with that he walked away, still playing with the ball as he did so but as soon as he passed by the group of kids that were playing with it earlier, he returned it to them with a pass.

"Thanks, nii-chan..."

"Aniki you were so cool there..."

"Tsk Tsk Tsk not cool, that... was Stylish. Remember that kids, now go home and avoid weirdos like that, got it?"

Seeing the group of boys off until they were out of his line of sight, he then moved on to check on his two girl friends.

That was until the soda can in his hand suddenly began to shake... and then exploded... in his face.

"But of course you would explode. Why bother taking my side anyway, right?"

But despite being an occasional teaser, _fate_ isn't an unfair lady. And so, much to Dante's _dripping_ reliev, some assistance was offered to him in the form of a handkerchief.

Looking up Dante once again met Suzuka's gentle smile and grateful eyes and, having the feeling he already knew what the girl's next words would be, he tried to cut them short. However, and much to his surprise, none of them say anything in the end, with Suzuka instead just extending her arm a bit more.

Dumbstruck at first, Dante just let out a soft chuckle before reaching for the helping hand she was offering to him.

"Thanks for having my back"

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing, really"

Taken aback by her comment at first, Dante spent a few more seconds in silence before chuckling a bit more with Suzuka joining him with her own soft laugh.

"...That so, fair enough...Well, doesn't seem like I need to ask but I'll do it anyway. You okay?"

"Yep, perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern"

Making a dismissive gesture with one hand while using the other one to clean his face, Dante's attention shifted towards Alisa, who had been staring at him oddly for quite some time.

"And what's up with you?"

"Where did you get that from?"

Looking down at his body, Dante immediately knew what she meant. Flipping the tails of his coat a bit, his sly grin just grew even more pronounce, much to Alisa's dismay.

"It's mine, pretty sweet huh?"

"Alright... But, where did you pull it out from"

Dante just glared oddly at her for a few seconds before his confident grin returned to his face.

"Girl... When you're this cool, you don't bother with details"

"..."

"You just came up with that, didn't you?"

"Heh... It's not as if I can have a comeback at the ready for every little question I get, you know"

"It's not as if you need to in the first place..."

"Maybe, but it is part of my character"

"Well, if you don't want to tell us that's fine. But you know, with those lines and that outfit, you look like some sort of cosplayer... And your hair doesn't help at all..."

"Hey, my hair is awesome..."

Dante seemed quite offended at that, even reaching for his head with both hands as if trying to protect his hair. But thankfully for him, Suzuka seemed to take his side in the end.

"I think it really suits you... hmm... It's pretty _stylish_..."

Much to the girl's surprise, her comment was met with total silence before Dante finally snapped back to the present and tried to approach her. Only for him to be tackled once again by Alisa, rushing at her side.

"Suzuka! You have to promise me that you will NEVER say something like that ever again... I don't want you to end up like that..."

Dante was able to get back on his feet just in time to see Alisa pointing at him right after finishing her plea to her friend, and while not exactly pleased with the action at the very least it showed him that both girls were indeed just fine.

"Well, while I'm usually the last person who wants to shut the party, guess I should be taking my leave here..."

"Huh, are you really leaving now?"

"Yep, can't help it. I told you before that I have a few errands I need to take care of... So, the sooner the better I guess"

"...Is that so..."

Suzuka barley had time to show any sings of sadness before she felt her head been patted, looking back at Dante, she found him giving her quite a silly smile as he returned the handkerchief to her.

"...I see... But, still thank you for everything you did for us today..."

"Hehe, just doing what I can..."

As he turned to his side, Dante found Alisa looking at the other girl with a fond smile but, as soon as she became aware of Dante's gaze on her, she turn slightly stiff. That however, didn't stop the white haired boy to pat her head too, much to her embarrassment.

"Just try to stay out of trouble from now on, 'kay?"

"Hmph, being told that by someone like you pisses me of"

"Well, you wouldn't be the first one... …?"

"What is it?"

"Well is just that... if you really want to thank me for today, maybe you could help me out with something..."

"Oh, really, what is it?"

However, before he could voiced out his request, Dante suddenly had a flashback of sorts...

"_TRY to think things through at least just once"_

"_Yeah, great idea Dante, ask two 9-year-old, elementary school girls from a big capital like Tokyo about a small-time city like that Uminari, because they're sure to know something... As if you haven't got them in enough of a mess already..."_

Not happy with just his sarcastic auto-reply, Dante even face-palmed himself in front of the other girls.

"Wha-what is it?"

Returning to reality after deciding to disregard his earlier idea, Dante just used the first thing that came to his mind.

"Actually, I just wanted to know if you could tell me where I can find a train station or something to leave the city nearby..."

Well, he was already planning to use something like that to try to at least learn in which direction to go afterwards, so having the two girls tell him where one would be could certainly spare him some trouble.

"Just that...?"

"Yep"

"Sigh... If that was all, then you can just try the Tōhoku Shinkansen, is the closest one from here"

"Oh... Okay then..."

And just like that, he began to walk away but not without saying his farewells, although he didn't bother to stop even then.

"I'll see ya when I see ya"

As soon as he said those words, Dante took a turn in one of the streets and disappeared from the sight of the two girls. After a short moment, they began to leave as well.

"Sigh... What a weirdo..."

"Still, he was a really nice person..."

"I-I di-didn't say he wasn't... but he is still an odd one..."

"But a gentle one. He kind of reminded me of Nanoha..."

"No way, no way. There is no way Nanoha and that guy could have anything in common, why did you even compared them like that...?"

"I don't know, I think they would get along just fine... But is quite a shame, I couldn't ask him for a cellphone number or anything..."

"Well, he said he doesn't have any..."

_CLANK..._

But before they could even leave the street, they were interrupted by a metallic clink coming from beneath Suzuka's shoe.

"Ara..."

And what they found was a really weird looking metallic card broken in half...

* * *

><p>"Sigh... So boring..."<p>

Not exactly the words one would expect from someone who slained a possessed fluff of darkness, raced across the rooftops of Tokyo's skyscrapers and beat the living lights out of a bunch of yakuza's rip-offs all in just one day.

But then again, when you take into consideration Dante's life style such occurrences can easily be disregarded as uneventful.

To make things all the more annoying, despite or perhaps because of all the messes that kept coming at him one after the other, Dante didn't make much progress in regards of his job.

"Well, at least now I know where I can get some information about that Uminari place... Not that it helps all that much if I can't leave here first..."

Whit his only clues still been the fact that there was one last jewel seed somewhere within the city and the fact that there was at least someone else besides him after it, there wasn't much he could use to get a head start in putting an end to his business in Tokyo.

And it was precisely that information, or rather lack of it, the reason why he found himself back in the rooftops of the city, once again under the night sky, on a patrol of sorts.

The key difference here being the fact that, rather than trying to catch the enemy off-guard, he was trying to expose himself in order to try and lure whoever it was he was dealing out in the open. After all, direct confrontations were always Dante's choice when dealing with trouble and if the situation was one where such an option wasn't available...

Well, let's just say he would make it be, one way or the other...

"Sigh... I know they're not supposed to make things easier for me, but I really wish the time would come when they would be a bit more considerate..."

It had been two hours since the sunset, four since he separate himself from his new _friends_ and began to move across the heights and not a single thing happened.

It was still better than the alternative, though. Looking for a small jewel of the size of a coin and with a magic signal as predictable as a slot machine in an area of over 2000 square kilometers didn't seemed like a good idea... or more like against common sense.

"Sigh... This is so boring it's depressing me..."

And it was because Dante was so busy complaining that he didn't register the small blue light that flied over his shoulder until after it had move past him.

"What the..."

And it was because he was so busy trying to make sense of what had just happen that he didn't notice the person that was closing in with him from behind.

Not until said person used his head as a landing spot and then jumped forward in pursuit, making Dante lose his balance and almost falling over the edge of a building.

"OI! Get back here..."

Crawling back up, he made it just in time to hear a female voice and watch an orange blur moving away in the distance, following the blue light from before. Just glaring at them with a skeptical look.

"You know, I'm really starting to think fate isn't on my side today..."

He spare only two more seconds in just looking and then he finally began taking action, although for most of the time he didn't seem too concern.

"Seems things won't be as boring anymore"

* * *

><p><strong>BGM: Rockman ZX Advent Soundtrack -ZXA Tunes – T08: Bullet Drive<strong>

* * *

><p>Pulling out the twin cards that were his trustworthy weapons before immediately changing them into their actual gun forms. He even made them spin in his fingers a few times in a playful manner.<p>

"All right boys... time to get to work..."

Putting his now ready companions in the holsters on his back, Dante shot ahead joining the race that now was unfolding in front of him, as his smirk returned to his face all the while.

* * *

><p>"Dammit... stop moving around so much...!"<p>

Despite the angry yells coming from the young woman, the small cyan jewel didn't even slow down. Of course it had no reason to do so in the first place.

"Tch... what a pain..."

Rather than continuing with her tantrums, the pursuing girl just tried to focus on catching the annoying little light, but as soon as she tried to do so the lost logia made a ridiculously sudden turn to the right, leaving the angry girl behind.

And since she was still running across the rooftops when her eyes followed the jewel's movement she almost ran into some of the pipes and tubes that were scattered across the place, part of the ventilation system of the buildings.

"Oh, crap..."

Rather than trying to stop, like most people would do, she actually kept going forward, but just as she was closing in to a horizontal metal tube, the girl performed a ducking like movement, passing beneath the obstacle with a dash, only her knees touching the ground while she bend her body backwards. Certainly, a movement not unlike the one a certain sorry-excuse-of-a-delinquent had try to pulled off earlier that day, only that hers was far more graceful and stylish, she even managed to pass the pipes without her body touching them, except for her breast, which kind of bounced a bit and did graze the metal structures, much to the girl's embarrassment.

And once that she was past that, she somehow manage to do a sort of back-flip move even from her kneeling position and awkward bended back, with her hand now used to support her airborne body.

Taking advantage from this, she spinned her hold on the ground a bit so that the moment that she finally landed again she would be facing in the same direction the logia had taken.

Crouching in all four as she landed, she faced towards the fleeing light, her face blushing a shade of pink after the awkward experience, she shot forward again in hot pursuit.

Only even angrier than before.

And all the while being watched by a certain red-clad boy from a taller building, while also having a hard time fighting back his chuckles.

"Hoh... Not bad, not bad. looks like things are finally going _crazy_ around here..."

* * *

><p>"Just wait already...! Seriously just for how long am I gonna keep up chasing that thing...?"<p>

"You don't say. For a lost logia that is supposed to obey people's wishes, this one is quite a pain..."

"I know... Wait, what?... GAAAAH"

Being too much into catching her target and taken completely off-guard by the newcomer's voice, she almost trip over when a red blur move by her side.

"Well, better get to work..."

Pulling Ivory out while twirling it in his finger, Dante took a single shot, the dark-red flare sailing across as it approached the runaway relic.

"WAIT! What do you think you're doing?!"

However before the girl could protest, let alone try to prevent the attack from connecting, it actually hit it's target, but contrary to her expectations, rather than unleashing some magic backlash, the jewel seed only gave one single red flash of light before say light died away.

"No way... It stopped, just like that...?"

Indeed, Arf was just surprised by the arrival of this red clad stranger, but she was beyond shocked after he shut down the lost logia with an attack that should had caused just the opposite.

"Sigh... good timing there, it didn't went berserk like the other one... I certainly don't feel like meeting any of Evil bunny of doom's relatives..."

"...Like the other one...? Evil-what... ...Just who are..."

But before she could finish she was interrupted by the boy as he turned around and addressed her.

"Well, since this is kinda like one of those _finders keepers_ situations, then I guess that means this is..."

He didn't got to finish his sentence though, for the moment he laid his eyes on Arf he froze, with a freaked out expression... Again.

"What's wrong with you...?"

In all honesty, Arf was at a lose with the guy, not only did he suddenly showed up, got in her way, seemed like he was about to take her target away, only for him to suddenly turned into a statue and looking like he just saw a monster or something when he looked at her.

Not exactly something she was happy about, and for A LOT of reasons.

But just in time, her brain finally returned to a more proper function, and she remembered just what was she supposed to be doing in the first place.

"...! The jewel seed... Kyaaaa!"

But before she could even move she was stop in a really unexpected fashion...

By Dante actually pulling her tail.

"Wha-what are you... Let go...!"

She attempted to kick him, but her leg hit the empty air after Dante suddenly disappeared. She immediately found him again, when she felt her ears being rubbed.

"Hey! N-no... don't do that... you... DAMN MORON... IDIOT!... IDIOT!..._**IDIOT!**_"

And this time, when she reached in order to threw him over, she succeeded. But Dante was still able to land without a problem.

"What the hell is you're problem, you punk. Are you some sort of perv..."

"YOU ARE A FAMILIAR...!"

Not only did Dante's face looked really freaked out, but even his voice was kind of shaky.

"...Huh...?"

"And not just that, you're a really pretty one too!... Sigh, great that's just... Argggh..."

It wasn't so much a matter of his words but more his disturbed tone of voice and panicked mannerisms what really throw Arf off guard.

Now, while most males would probably be quite excited if they were to meet someone like Arf, for more than one reason, Dante wasn't among that particular group. In fact it was just the opposite, he was more than just _edgy_ when faced with this sort of situation.

All thanks to the doings of two certain sisters.

Thankfully for both of them, or perhaps not so much, before the whole situation could get even worsrt between the two, the reason behind them being there in the first place suddenly made it's presence known.

With an explosion of light.

"What the..."

"It activated... But how...?"

As sudden as the light came, so it did the shockwave that made the two of them fall of the rooftop.

And the moment Dante landed, he understood the reason the jewel awakened.

The parking lot.

He was back in it.

A sudden sound to his left made him realize that Arf had ended up there too.

"..."

"What? Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"Nah, forget it... (Really... Sigh... I should have seen this one coming...)"

Knowing very well what was about to happen, Dante wasted not a single moment as he pulled out another one of the generating-barrier cards and used it.

Just in time, as the now rampant relic literally crashed on the ground in front of them.

At first it was just light that was been siphoned around it but soon some sort of psychedelic wind or moisture appeared as well.

"(Alright, so we have...)"

Dante's attention went right at the jewel seed which now had encased itself in a type of orb of solid light with two small horns coming out of it.

"(Something old...)"

Then he moved on to the now big, bulky, humanoid body that formed out of a gelatine-like substance and the rainbow light that it gave off.

"(Something new...)"

Next it was the card-device still in his hand.

"(Something borrowed...)"

And lastly towards the far end of the lot's ground, where he caught the sight of both Alisa and Suzuka staring at the huge Jell-o devil. And strangely, he focused more on Suzuka's sweeter first.

"(...And something blue...)"

And just as he was about to try to make sense out of all those facts, Arf waked him up back to reality with a smack to the head.

"OI! It's moving..."

And it was exactly when the light that surrounded the jewel turned into a crimson red hue and seemed to focus it's attention on him, that Dante finally came to the only possible conclusion from his earlier observations.

"...I'm so screwed..."

* * *

><p><span><strong>Omake. <strong>

**Soichiro's Epilogue.**

7 years later.

Dean: And it is with great pleasure that we grant this recognition to the one that ranked first among the students of this generation... Seki Soichiro...!

_(Claps)_

Soichiro: Thank you very much, dean. Man I still can't believe it, after 7 years here I finally made it. I still remember when I first announced that I would be going to college to try to become a doctor...

Soichiro: Everyone laughed at me... But now who's laughing, huh?... Well, all jokes aside, right now, standing here in front of you I can't help but recall all the things that happened, but there is one thing that I remember most vividly... When I first decided to continue with my studies. It was all thanks to one person and whether or not he had been serious back then, if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be here today...

Soichiro: So... wherever you are... thank you weird white-haired dude...

Dante: You're welcome...

Soichiro: What the fuck...!

Dante: What? Don't tell me you thought I forgot about you...

Soichiro: Wh-what...?

Dante: Well... You know what comes next right...

_(Cracking knuckles)_

Soichiro: Uhm... Clench my teeth...

Dante: Good...

_(BAM...!)_

Alisa: I can't believe we came all the way here just so that idiot could do that...

Suzuka: Fufufu... Soichiro-san is something else, to actually followed Dante's advice and do well in it...

Alisa: I think they all are something else...

And so Alisa opted to ignore Dante when he was ambushed by the security forces... She pretended she wasn't paying attention when he broke free and ran away... She simply opted to watch at the recording she took of Soichiro getting punched in the face, all the while with a sly grin on her face...

* * *

><p>AN: That's right, that was it. Three months and this is what I got.

I told you that I made some changes in the end, so if some parts seemed rather short or lacking, well you now know why.

After all, that's why I said it worked out somehow, not that it was perfect.

But let's stop with the pointless mourning. Right now what I really want is to get over two more facts that I left unaddressed before because I didn't want to push the author notes too far with so little content in the chapter itself.

So first of all. Romance...

And I just feel as if I walked into a mine field (If only because of some bizarre easter egg hunt and not just to make a point).

And I really would appreciate if you could read this until the end, I mean you made it this far, what are a few more lines...

For starters... Will there be any romance here?

And the answer to that would be no...

And yes...

It's complicated.

First of all, I do plan to introduce some romance later on, after all that along humor are the two genres I feel more comfortable working with (don't mistake that with being good at them, though).

But just as I said before, I want this story to be more action oriented than anything else, not to mention that we're still far from the part that I wish to work with (around 16 years worth of in-story events) so before any of that happens I will focus mostly on covering the first three seasons.

Well, that is one part of it, now the other question would be... What can you expect from the pairings?

Like many fans of the Nanoha series I happen to be a NanoFate fan (what can I say... I mean, can you blame me...?), but that doesn't mean much if _I _am the one writing the story.

Firstly, I have always believe that any pairing can be pulled off if you do it in a proper and believable way. I can guarantee you that if you take your time and work things carefully at least one person who never even thought about a particular pairing being possible will actually be pleased with it.

Or at least that was what I thought until I began working on this story and realized that beyond all that is the authors deposition to work with it in the first place.

You see, I came to realize that, there are a few pairings I just can't bring myself to do, just like:

NanohaXDante: I'm sorry but... this one is just imposible for me. No matter how hard I try I just can't see it happening, I don't really think there is any version of Dante out there that can be a good match for Nanoha. Their characters are just too similar for thej to develop feelings for the other. So bottom line, for me, they are pretty much incompatible as lovers, at most they could be very close friends, something that would be pretty much a given in canon too.

NanohaXVergil: Well... do I even need to tell you why...? Although, one thing I think we can all agree on is that, if the White Devil and the Dark Angel were to ever have a child together, then that kid would be pretty damn close to the Chuck Norris of fandom.

Well, that's a disturbing thought, if I ever wrote one.

Another thing is, even if I said I'm a NanoFate fan, I don't really think I will be using that pairing in here either.

I know myself pretty well so I know that, if I were to include some NanoFate in here, I would end up focusing solely on it and turning what should have been an action fic with some NanoFate in it, into a NanoFate fic with some action.

It probably doesn't seem all that different for you, but for me it is. I would probably end up sacrificing the story itself for the sake of it.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't plan to write another story focused on my favorite couple some other time (actually, I like SpardaXEva the most, with all the tragedy that surrounds them and well, all that...).

To be honest I think that a NanoFate fic featuring both Dante and Hayate in there is too much of a good idea to go to waste.

And if you add Vergil as well as a little extra, then you would be in for a really bizarre story (in a good, Hayate-ish way).

I can totally see him saying something to Nanoha and Fate like... _Do I look like I even about your situation...?_ And then Yamato would be swipe at their necks.

But like I said, I rather finish this story before anything else.

And since we are talking about NanoFate, maybe I should tell you what not to expect from Fate as well.

FateXDante: Unlike the others, I really have nothing against this particular pairing, I simply chose not to use it for no real reason. I guess you can even say I just flipped a coin to decide whether or not to do it. Only that there was no coin involved in my decision. Besides, thanks to the story-plot I came up with I don't really think it will happen, not unless I decide to make some changes, but that isn't likely at all.

And finally...

FateXVergil: Well, like I've been saying all along, the only thing that will bloom between these two is going to be hatred, a deep gut-eating hatred.

Now you may be wondering just why is it that I want them to hate each other that badly, do I hate them or something? Just the opposite actually, I freaking love them, they're my favorite characters, not only in this story, but they're among my favorite characters in general.

Then why?

Last time I said something about the two of the being two sides of the same coin, well that's actually and understatement, so let me take this chance to explain myself properly.

Personally, I think that both Vergil and Fate are completely opposite interpretations of the exact same ideal:

Power to protect what is precious to you.

Not only that, but you also have to considerate how they ended up like that.

Their families were what they held dearly the most and after losing them under such harsh events, those feelings of guilt and weakness that remained in them were the reason they took that path.

And it is quite ironic too, how Vergil was the one that turned into a _bad guy _(honestly I think of him as more of an extremist rather than pure evil).

After all, it was fate, coincidence or whatever you want to call it what brought Fate and Nanoha together. And it was precisely that same thing the reason why Vergil ended up alone, believing Dante to be dead for many years.

When you think about it like that, it would seem as if it were the circumstances rather than their will what set them in their respective paths.

And that is what I find the most interesting about them, they are pretty much _what if_ versions of each other.

Had Fate never met Nanoha and the others, she would have ended up as a nihilistic warrior who regarded existence without power as futile.

Just in the same way Vergil, had he learn to forgive himself for Eva's death, could have turn out to be a quite compassionate and caring character.

So with that in mind, just imagine what would happen if they were to meet years after all that, with not only each of them representing pretty much everything the other chose to cast away in order to move one, but even been able to stand as equals.

Well, that's gotta sting somehow.

And to all that, add several situations that will pit them against each other, because I have no intention of make things easier for them.

And that is why I feel that a clash between those two has so much potential.

Then again, maybe is just me, maybe I'm just crazy and you're just being reading the crazy babblings of a crazy person.

After all, you are more than welcome to disagree with me. It's not as if I can force you to agree with it anyway, and I have no desire to do so.

But those are my reasons for making them fight each other to death.

Well that, and the fact that I really like them and, when reading a crossover, a fight between your favorite characters is always appealing. Only that this time around I'm the one writing the story, so...

Anyway, that is why you shouldn't be looking forward to any sort of romantic development between those two.

But aside for those particular pairings, any other might be possible. Personally, a favorite of mine is SignumXFate, not only is something that I always wanted to see, but because I'm also planning for Signum to hold a grudge against Vergil too (not quite as personal as Dante's or Fate's case, but just as deep) it would certainly be interesting see how it would affect the unavoidable conflict.

And finally, the last topic I want to touch, considering that this chapter also marks the first, short appearance of Rebellion...

Devil Arms.

To be clear, since I do plan to introduce all the main characters of the DMC main series, that is Vergil, Dante and Nero, then obviously Sparda's devil arms will show up as well.

So what I'm about to say is pretty much meant for all the other.

Yes, all the other devil arms will appear in this fic too, it won't be right away but you can be sure that all of them will, in some way or the other.

As a matter of fact, I have a special surprise regarding my favorite three for later on.

And of course I won't tell you which ones they are. After all, I just can't ruin the surprise for you, can I?.

Sorry... couldn't resist.

And just for you to know, even if I were to include Sparda's devil arms as well, the only one I like better than three I mentioned is Yamato.

But don't worry, I still have enough surprises left for them.

And with that we're done with the ground rules for this story.

No seriously that's it, you won't have to put up with me and my annoyingly long monologues anymore.

Well, there is still one last thing I should address but I don't really want to, I get the feeling that if I were to do so, I would end up scaring you all. Besides, I have no intention on using that particular plot-developer until we reach Force.

And just as the title of this chapter says, with this we are also done with this short _Tokyo Arc_ of Dante.

It was originally meant to be a 3-part story, but after the changes that didn't last.

If you're wondering about what happens after this, then you'll have to wait until later on to find out.

So rather than anything else, I made this chapter focused on Dante's interactions with other, kind of minor, characters before finally introducing and gathering the main cast.

I'd like to believe I did a fairly decent job in that, but again that is up to you to say.

Well, more than anything I wanted to give you a small preview of how the dynamics between Dante and other characters will work. And if things are already turning like this, just imagine how it will be once others like the Wolkenritter come along.

And since we're done with Dante for the time being, that means it is time for us to move on to the other main character of this story.

Yep, next is the time for the White Devil to take the spotlight.

I'll finally get the chance to work with the cute little Ace of aces (What? Am I the only one that just wanted to give Nanoha a big hug when she was little?... Wait... that didn't sound right... Ah, who cares! She was so adorable...)

As a matter of fact, next chapter will cover two really interesting events: Nanoha's meeting with our beloved Red Joker and Yunno's fate once Dante finds him.

As for which one you should be looking forward the most, well... I'll leave that to you.

I guess I better call it a day right about now, 3 thousand words for the author's notes seems like more than enough now.

Oh, but before I forget, while right now there isn't much in it, I do encourage you to visit my profile some other time, as I'll be adding a few interesting things pretty soon, including a poll.

It's not really much, but you are more than welcome to drop by whenever you feel like it.

Well, I sure hope you enjoyed this new chapter, at least to the point where it had been worth the wait.

Again, I'm not entirely sure when I'll be able to upload the next chapter, but I'll try my best to have it done as soon as I can.

Now if you excuse me, I must go and slain a gigantic demon-centipede...

...Again...

But it is still fun, so I'm not complaining...

...Have a nice day...


	3. Extra Scene I: Chained by fate

A/N: Hey, guess what? New chapter for you, my dear readers.

And yes, I know that it took me quite some time again, but at the very least I'd like to believe I'm making it up to you with the chapter's length, right?

But let me tell you, this chapter was a pain to write, not because of some sort of writer's block, far from it actually. The problem was my annoying keyboard.

You see, the one I've been using for the last 10 and some years died on me around the time when I first began working on this story, so for the last 5 months or so I've been struggling with trying to get used to the one I bought as a replacement.

Which just happens to be way too small, no I mean it, is just way too freaking small, the keys are all next to each other, most of the time I don't even know which one I'm pressing, not to mention that they are way too short, so there are times I'm not sure if it actually worked when I typed something.

And while none of that is anything new, for some reason it turned into a huge impediment this time around.

Dammit... I hate my new, small, annoying keyboard.

…

Well, at least Dog Days 2 is out...

And well, other than that there really isn't much I have to say right now, so...

Let's just proceed with the feedback section for now...

**To _Kamen Rider Wizard:_** I'm glad to see you're enjoying my work, however if you couldn't tell which pairing I was trying to aim for was most likely because I wasn't aiming for any pairings at all last time. I was just trying to portray what I believe would be a normal reaction from a nine year old girl when meeting Dante while at the same time trying to keep Alisa and Suzuka in character. And as for Arf, that was meant to be a hint to some of Dante's past experiences with female familiars... Let's just say those aren't his favorite memories.

Although you did gave me some interesting ideas to ponder about, so thanks.

About Vita, I think that in the future those sort of questions can be easily answered if you just ask yourselves this... What would Dante do? It is inevitable my good friend so don't worry, just give it time.

**To _Rashaan Butler_:** Hey now, flattery will get you nowhere with me... lol... But seriously, is always nice when somebody gets you and I don't think I'd be exaggerating when I said that the prospect of that fight was the main reason behind my decision to work on this story.

And as for your question, I honestly think it is quite unlikely, but if it does happens, I have no doubt in my mind that it will be one epic experience. Then again footage from Revengeance and Project P-100 already proved what I always thought... PG could even make a Twilight/The Smurfs crossover and it would still be awesome... Not that The Smurfs aren't awesome already, they would just be even more awesome.

**To _HolyKnight5_:** Wait... You can see into my mind...? Hehehehe... No, no I'm joking. I have to say though, you got yourself quite a solid idea of what I was aiming with Sparda, but you're not quiet there either. Just keep reading and you will be in for a surprise. And as usual thanks for the support my friend.

And once again, some special thanks to _taichidecade_ (nice to see you're still on board)_, Fleffler_, _Sajuuk_, _Naruto fan 99_, _dragooner_, _TRAVELEAYGA_, _kazekitsune666_, _Xireana Zetsubou_,_ mllhild_ as well as anyone who has deemed my story interesting enough to keep an eye on it.

Although it seems that in some cases it was me the one you found amusing, but that's okay, I'll take it as a compliment. I find pride in my own weirdness. That's what makes me awesome... in my mind, at least.

But enough with trying to act cool (actually, my doctor said I shouldn't do it anymore).

As usual, whatever comments I have regarding this chapter will be address later on. Also, I'm sure that many of you will be slightly taken aback once you began reading but don't worry, all your questions will be answered in the Author's Notes at the end too. And as compensation, I added a special surprise for you at the end of the chapter... Well two surprises if you count the Omake.

But enough talk...

...Lets get it started already...!

Oh, And...

**Chrono Phantasma** finally announced. Hell yeah! XD

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: What? You wanna know if I own something in here? Hold on, let me go check... Nope nothing at all... NOW STOP ASKING!<strong>

* * *

><p><span><strong>Extra Scene I.<strong>

**Chained by Fate.**

* * *

><p>"Zzzzzz... "<p>

For many people, waking up in the morning is always troublesome, that is a fact of life. No matter the time nor where you may go, this would remain true.

Of course the reasons behind this would never be the same for every single person...

Some people simply weren't good with mornings and even for this were many other reasons (even if some people would labeled them as nothing more than excuses) such as low blood pressure or in some other, blunter cases, they just had some level of disdain towards the early hours of the day.

However there were other cases where a more understandable reason would be the cause behind it, such as people that end up so worn out from their daily routines that their bodies just can't start right away the next day.

"...Uhmmm..."

And that was precisely the case for one particular young girl.

"...Is it morning already...?"

Even in her still half asleep state, it only took her one second to realize that the unusually pronounced darkness that shrouded her bedroom wasn't exactly proper of the morning time.

In fact, when she tried to look at the longcase clock that was at one end of the room, she found herself unable to make out clearly it's face. Even after waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness it still turned out to be quite difficult.

Still, judging by the sound of birds chirping, it wouldn't be long before that changd.

Now, waking up so early in the morning that it was still dark outside wasn't that uncommon for the child. Waking up on her own before anyone even tried to call for her...

That was a whole different matter...

And quite unexpected too, considering that the quite busy schedule that she had to complete the day before left her so tired that the moment she reached her bed she fell soundly asleep.

Not to mention that it also completely ruined another excuse for the people-against-mornings party...

"Fufufu... A good night of sleep really helps, right?"

Giggling as she remembered and quoted softly the words of her best friend, she was mindful enough to cover her mouth with her hands even though there was no one else in the room, never forgetting the etiquette lessons that her beloved instructor taught her.

After getting over her private joke and with little else to do, the child then moved towards the window that was right next to her bed, opening the curtains and revealing that indeed, just as she had concluded, the night sky was slowly being consumed by the light of dawn and, charmed by the beautiful display of colors that were raising from the distance, she just leaned over the window's frame enjoying the view, all the while the show of lights being reflected on the scarlet and emerald mirrors that were her eyes.

"So pretty..."

But really, it had been months since the last time she managed to find a quiet, peaceful time for herself like that one. The soothing atmosphere of that brief moment certainly was welcomed, but at the same time she couldn't help but remember the very reasons behind the recent difficulties in her life... no, in everyone's lives... Those chaotic days they all lived in...

Taking in a deep breath and then letting it go was the way she tried to fight back the uneasiness that was growing in her. It did help her to focus like always but a small feeling of loneliness remained behind in the end.

"...It's alright... It's gonna be alright, I'll make sure of that..."

Just how many times had she said those words ever since the wars sparked? She couldn't tell anymore.

However, those words were never said without resolution. They weren't just soothing words spoken halfheartedly, they were an oath, one she would accomplished no matter how hard it may be.

And with her resolve renewed, she managed to regain her more confident and cheerful expression just in time to hear a few knocks on the room's entrance, followed by a soft, familiar sound.

"Mistress..."

Recognizing the voice right away, the child turned immediately towards the source's direction just as one of the two grand doors that served as the room's main entrance was swung open and the one that had called for her stepped inside.

"Mistress, is already time for you to get... …Oh..."

Whether the young woman was genuinely surprised when finding the girl already awake or not never really showed since both, her voice and her face, remained perfectly even and serene.

"Ah... Good morning Matier..."

Walking further inside the room, Matier began to approach her young mistress while at the same time she picked up a pillow and a blanket that were lying on the ground. And even while doing so, she manage to do it in a rather elegant manner. Then again considering how neatly kept her maid uniform was or just how her long, red hair was carefully braided, the image the young woman gave was nothing short of pure professionalism.

"Good morning lady Olivie, I wasn't expecting you to be already up. I hope that you had a good night's rest..."

"Hmm, I did... I was really tired yesterday so I had no problems falling asleep. What about you?"

Well, no matter how serious Matier would take her job, sometimes she just couldn't help but let herself be influenced by the cheerful personality of the Segbrecht's heiress. Smiling softly as she began to take some clothes out of the antique wardrobe at the room's corner, she replied to the girl's question with a gentle voice.

"I also rested well, but now milady, it is about time for you to start the day. Please change your clothes so that you can go and take your breakfast"

"Alright!"

With an earnest attitude that matched her tone, Olivie finished with her morning preparations rather quickly. Washing her face, brushing her teeth, changing her clothes, combing her ash-blonde hair, simply enough all the usual activities that one would expect to find in the daily routine of any healthy girl were finished in no longer than 20 minutes.

And it was after all that was out of the way when both, Olivie and Matier, began to make their way towards the kitchen area so that the child could get the most important meal of the day.

Not precisely the most appropriate place for the young royalty to do so, at least that was what Matier would always say to the elders whenever the opportunity showed up and they would always respond with the same thing...

Due to the recent chaos that the civil wars had brought and especially after the latest turn of events, measures had to be taken in order to protect the people of the most affected regions, such as the whole land of Elenpios, one of the most ravaged cities in Shutra's territory... As well as Olivie's birthplace.

Such measures included plans like moving the survivors of these cities to fortified citadels at the outskirts of Fortuna, one of the main capitals of the Shutra Empire.

But in other cases, where the person in question was of relative high importance, then they would be relocated to more isolated areas, in Olivie's case Fortuna Castle, a rather old and rundown fortress located near the northern mountains of Fortuna, at the very top of Lamina Peak.

Fortunately, the once abandoned structure had been _fixed_ (sort of..) by the forces of Shutra to the point where not only it returned to it's former glory but its functionality was improved by a long shot as well.

However, because of how hastily all this actions were it didn't leave anyone with enough time for anything other than the most basic preparations.

As matters stood it was obvious that, even if the castle had turned into an extraordinary defense it was still rather lacking in pretty much any other areas.

Well, it really couldn't be help. After all almost all of the efforts put in the castle went to it's fortification and the restoration of the defense system so no one really bothered in trying to make it into a more homelike environment, and in cases like the dinning hall, the whole area was simply brought down in order to improved the castle security.

Honestly, Olivie really didn't mind it all that much. As a matter of fact she found eating her meals together with the rest of the castle's _tenants_ far more enjoyable than how things had been in the past, when she would find herself eating alone in those big rooms filled with empty seats that only made her feel even more unease. Still, if given the choice Olivie would have opted to go with the other refugees from Elenpios, but unfortunately that was never allowed.

And of course she wasn't happy with that and had it not been for her instructor's words, she would have never accepted that order...

"_As you are now there would be no merit in trying to help them. If you really feel the need to act for the sake of others, then you need to be ready to face the consequences of whatever may come as a result... You need to be ready to embrace the full responsibility of the position that has been entrusted to you..."_

Harsh words indeed, especially for a nine year old girl, and the dead serious tone in which they were spoken only made them worse, but that was precisely what Olivie needed to hear at the time. Honestly, there really weren't many willing to use such severeness with her...

"_Don't think of this as a wasted effort, but as an opportunity to better prepare yourself, and I am sure I don't need to remind you of just how rare and precious such opportunities are, especially in these times..."_

Well, even if her request to remain with the people that she would always regard as her family had been approved she had the feeling that there would still be people complaining about it all the same.

"Seriously, how do they expect for you mistress to put up with such... _precarious conditions_..."

"Nyahahaha... Now, now Matier, you don't need to be so mean... and I don't really mind, it's actually kinda fun like this..."

"Sigh... You're just too lenient milady... but as long as you approve it, then I guess there isn't much I can say about it..."

Leave it to Matier when it came to take overprotectiveness a step beyond, and when it came down to Olivie some even said she was willing to use lethal force to make her point heard. In fact Olivie seemed to recall one time when apparently she actually held a sword at the throat of a marquis, but at the time Olivie was just too young to remember the event properly.

She wouldn't be too surprised if it turned out to be true, though...

"(You really haven't changed at all...)"

For as long as Olivie could remember Matier had been by her side. She would always look after for her with such warm and tenderness, to the point where Olivie would think of her as an older sister.

For Olivie she was one of her closest and dearest friends, and the fact that she was still with her was one of the main reasons why she had been able to put up with her current situation...

And on that train of thought...

"Ah!... Come to think of it... Hey, Matier, What time is it?"

While Olivie's sudden halt and out of the blue question certainly caught her off guard, Matier didn't spend the last 9 years looking after her without learning to deal with her mistress occasional _unique_ behavior.

"Um... I'd say about... 5:50..."

And just in that same manner, Olivie wasn't curious as to how Matier was able to answer her back after only looking at the scenery outside rather than a clock, and even trusting her in the end too. Of course Matier always carried a pocket watch with her, but she would used it only when she was indoors, she preferred to use the sky as a mean to tell the time whenever possible.

She was (un)surprisingly accurate...

"...But mistress, why d..."

But Matier opted to cut her question mid-sentence as soon as she realized that the younger girl wasn't paying attention to her anymore, rather it seemed as if her mistress was far more interested in her own thoughts.

"Then I can still make it..."

And right after the young Segbrecht said those words, she took her leave, practically dashing towards the inner hallways of the castle's main building and leaving the older girl in a semi-dumbfounded state.

But that didn't last long, for as soon as Matier became aware of just in which part of the castle they had arrived she immediately understood what had possessed her cute little sister.

In order to reach the kitchen of the castle that was in the east wing, they always had to make their way from the area designated as the _dorm_ in the west wall (or to be more precise, the west tower where Olivie's room was located) by passing by the central courtyard and the dinning hall, both of which had been turned in the main checkpoints for all the forces guarding the area.

Every morning ever since they arrived there, that had been the path they followed, and every single time they would encounter the same faces depending on the day and exact time at that moment.

What made things different now was the fact that Olivie's sudden head start for the day turned the slim chance of encountering one particular face into a more than likely outcome.

And obviously Olivie decided to seize the opportunity...

"...So it was that. Good grief, such a spoiled child..."

Well, she couldn't blame the young girl either so instead she just followed after her at her own pace.

* * *

><p>While most of the times Olivie would pass through the many halls and hallways that comprised her daily route she would also meet with a few other people (mainly guards in their change of shifts), that particular morning she found the castle indoors oddly vacant.<p>

With the exception of those guards that were already in their posts, the rooms around her were devoid of any inhabitants and it was probably due to the fact that Olivie was almost never awake so early that this lack of activity was so unexpected.

Not that it mattered to her anyway.

In fact not only did it worked in her favor, but Olivie didn't even bother to pay more attention than necessary to her surroundings as she ran across the hallways so fast that the few people around didn't realize that she had passed by until she was almost out of their sight.

Instead, most of her attention was in discerning where she was at the moment as well as where she had to go.

"Over there...!"

As soon as she found herself right in front of the door that connected her current location with the main hall she rush towards it almost ready to bring it down by any means if needed to open it.

And the first thing she noticed the moment she crossed over was the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the large room.

Wasting not a single moment despite her short of breath, she began to survey the room in search for the source, trying to see if the one (or rather ones, considering that she could clearly make out two different kind of footsteps) moving around was in fact the person she had been looking for.

Thankfully for her, the main hall's second floor was composed only by an elongated, indoors balcony that covered the walls of the room, giving an almost complete view of the entire place.

Because of this she immediately found her answer as she looked at one of the far ends of the deck and, much to her delight, she caught the sight of two figures, walking side by side and moving away of her position.

At first she disregarded the presence of the smaller of the two, focusing solely on the one walking farther away from the wall. The tall, silver-haired figure wearing the long, dark coat, it's tails swaying behind with each step taken.

With a huge, playful smile on her face and regained vigor that almost made it seemed as if her shallow breathing from earlier never happen she began to approach her target, slowly at first as she tried to stay as quiet as possible.

When she had covered half the distance before reaching a corner she actually removed her shoes as to remain unnoticed, but not without losing sight of the other two who just kept going their own way, unaware of the young girl's actions.

She kept looking at them just for a little while longer...

And then she took off after them, moving so fast that it created a small gust of wind behind her...

Whether the other pair noticed this or note was irrelevant at that point, even if any of them could tell what was going on... It was already too late...

"_SPARDA...!"_

"...! ...What the...?!"

_...TOPH...!_

That single cry was the only warning he had before the small girl closed the gap between them by running at full speed and hurled herself at him, not only succeeding in pushing both of them unto the ground (and knocking the air out of his lungs) but thanks to the incredible momentum that she built beforehand, they kept skidding across the ground until they crashed into a wall...

...Or rather just his head...

And even after their impromptu trip through the floor had ended both figures remained laying down on the ground perfectly still, albeit for completely different reasons...

While her victim was still trying to regain some sense of the world, Olivie was simply enjoying the results of her successful _attack_...by hugging her downed opponent to her hearts content.

Eventually however, Sparda was able to regain enough of his brain functions to finally returned from the sea of unconsciousness, picking himself up and into a sitting position...

As well as carrying Olivie along with him since she seemed to refuse to let go of him even after he began moving.

At first he only glared at her through the silver bangs of his brushed down hair, but after a few seconds passed without the girl loosening her grip...

"... ...Sigh... ...Is nice to see that you're just as energetic this early in the morning too Olivie, but... Why did you had to crash into me like that?... Or rather... Could you please let go of me?..."

"Oh, don't be like that... It's fine if I stay like this a bit more, isn't it?..."

Sparda tried to search for some hint of remorse in the little girl's voice, which of course he didn't found, not unless tightening her hold on him was her way to express her guilt.

Still, Sparda did gave her a little bit more time...

And a whole second at that...

"...Sigh... No, it isn't..."

Grabbing her by the neck of her one-piece dress, Sparda easily put the girl back on her feet (much to her amusement) as he himself stood up as well.

"And how many times have we told you not to run in the hallways, especially in the main hall's second floor..."

"It's okay, I didn't went at full speed until I reached the corner"

Not only did Olivie's eyes and voice had an air of overflowing confidence, as if she just had used one of the most compelling arguments in history, but she even gave him a thumbs up...

Honestly, Sparda couldn't help but to gave her a slightly amused look from his steel-blue eyes.

"...No, you see, that's when you're supposed to be more careful..."

"...Mein Fürst..."

And it was right at the moment Sparda tried to bring back some reason into their conversation when a new voice joined in too...

Well, not entirely new, considering that the owner had been in the room all along... who happened to be yet another young girl at that...

And when both, adult and child, turned to address the newcomer the reactions they gave were as different as they themselves were from each other, with Olivie opting for immediately hide behind Sparda, using him as a shield of sorts and only poking her head out just enough for the child to look at the new girl.

Now, while the young royalty was, for the most part, quite an amicable and cheerful girl, there were still times when she wouldn't feel as comfortable when dealing with some people. And that situation was a perfect example of that.

Truthfully, Olivie didn't harbored any hard feelings towards the girl (she had no reason to, really), but there was just something about her that made Olivie feel somehow uneasy. It wasn't because of all the rumors that shrouded her, after all Olivie would never allowed herself to be swayed away by shallow gossips when judging another person. But there was some sort of presence that the young woman gave away that just didn't felt well.

And as she watched that person approach them, she couldn't help but to feel that way again...

She was beautiful, no doubt about that. In fact Olivie felt that if anything, the girl looked more like a sculpture than a person, like a work of art given life. With her skin as white and smooth as porcelain, a well endowed yet delicate figure certainly worth of admiration and awe, and with long and silky silver hair that made her resemble Sparda himself... A fact for which Olivie couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous about...

She was also rather young, looking to be about as old as Matier, and the way both women carried themselves with an air of _elegant seriousness _was something else they had in common. That and how neatly their attire was kept, in the woman's case a female version of the black clothing Sparda was wearing beneath his coat.

But the two aspects that were the more noticeable were the book the woman was carrying, clenched tightly against her chest, an object to which she was intrinsically bound and another target for the ill fated words spoken about her... And her eyes, those scarlet orbs that seemed to reflect nothing but a distant and empty look in them...

A sight that shocked Olivie the most...

And yet on the other end, Sparda himself had a far more simple reaction. He merely looked back at her and nodded his head as a gesture of both, greeting and acknowledge for her presence, all the while without losing that relaxed and serene aura he had been giving all along...

...With the exception of a slight twitch of sorts in his eye the moment he caught up to what the girl's earlier words had been...

"...Ah, Himmel. Sorry about that"

Just like always, Sparda's words were spoken with a rather frank and straightforward tone, not leaving room for any misunderstandings or second meanings in them. For all the fear and distrust the woman seemed to be subject of, Sparda always acted in a relaxed and collected fashion when in her company (in some opinions even more than usual).

He did cast a sideways glance at Olivie's figure behind him though. Probably in reference to either, the little performance from before or the argument that followed and that ended up derailing them further more from their own schedules.

But if Olivie had to guess, then she would said it was probably both. A thought that made her flinch even more and further cover her face with the purple tails of Sparda's coat.

"There is no need to apologize..."

The woman's tone was a calm and collected one that matched the look on her eyes and even though they were locked on Sparda for most of the time, she did manage to give Olivie a quick look in order to reaffirm her statement.

But as for what came next...

"...However, please keep in mind that we still have appointments that we need to meet, mein Fürst..."

And then the twitch in Sparda's eye returned, this time accompanied by an ever so slight hint of exasperation...

"You don't need to worry about that, I'm still aware of it... But, Himmel..."

"Yes... What is it, mein Fürst?"

And again...

"Haven't I told you already not to call me that?"

"...Well... Indeed you have, but..."

"So..."

"Uhm... Is just that last time, you asked me how many times had you told me not to address you in that manner and when I answered back, you told me that wasn't your point and to _forget it_, so I thought you meant that I could do it more often... (by the way, the number of times you asked me that back then were 77)"

"What...?... No, that wasn't what I meant, neither back then or now..."

Before continuing, Sparda let out a sight as he massaged his head with the palm of his hand, ruffling his hair some more too. Honestly, he could already feel the headache forming in is head, not counting the one he already had thanks to the somewhat excessive ways the girl hidden behind him chose to express her affection for him.

And the piercing glare said child was throwing his way as well as the undivided attention the other girl showed to him weren't helping much...

"...My point is, it annoys me very much whenever you use such worthless titles with me, so would you mi..."

"I refuse"

Well that was fast...

"Excuse me...?"

"I am sorry, my liege, but I cannot concede to that request. As you are the one commanding our forces, it is my obligation to always show you the adequate amount of respect and loyalty..."

"...Sigh... You don't need to take it so far. To begin with I'm not your master and I'm already aware of..."

"Be that as it may be, you are still someone of high stance in all of this... And... whether you are my master or not is of no importance to me... My debt towards you is something that surpasses that already..."

Not only did she seemed serious in her speech, but in a somewhat out of character moment (well, out of character for most but Sparda) she actually looked upset too, as if truly offended with the idea of addressing Sparda in such an inappropriateway.

In fact she seemed so agitated by it that Sparda ended up lifting his arms in front of him in an attempt to calm her down a little...

It probably wasn't working...

"...Sigh... You know what, forget it. Do as you please, as long as it makes you happy"

"Thank you, my liege. I appreciate it..."

Honestly, Sparda was already feeling tired with that conversation and after the grateful smile he received from the girl, he didn't found it in himself to keep up at it without feeling somewhat guilty.

"Well, at least you changed it for something not as grand... All that aside Himmel, shouldn't you be on your way already..."

"Ah... Indeed, I should be taking my leave now..."

"On your way to where?"

While not exactly happy to be completely ignored for most of their chat (or rather she was really angry at the man she was using as a shield), that last statement caught Olivie's attention enough for her to let it aside... for the moment...

"Uhm?... Oh right, you still haven't heard,,, You see, a meeting between the Elders' council and Shutra's political assessors was arranged last night..."

"Huh? So you two are going to attend it?"

"No, only Himmel here will be going in behalf of the knight's Order... It seems that Arkham himself will be attending the meeting as well so my presence wasn't required this time around"

"Th-the Chancellor is...?"

Now that was a name that send shivers down the girl's spine...

Sure, there were people she felt a bit uneasy about, like Himmel, and even people she just couldn't handle well at all, like some of the politicians at Shutra's palace, but as stated before she really didn't hate them, it just wasn't in her.

Chancellor Arkham, however...

...He was the only person Olivie found truly repulsive...

Even when Olivie had only met him briefly a couple of times during some of the reunions with the politicians representing Shutra's allies, those few times were enough for her to understand that that man was a disturbing existence. Not even the fact that both, Matier and Sparda had remained by her side all the time help her to feel the man's presence any less suffocating.

There was just something... awfully wrong with that person. A fact well known by any who knew him and especially by Arkham himself. Sometimes it just felt as if he found some twisted pleasure in gloating about it.

But just as the trembling of her body became more pronounced, Olivie was drawn back from her dark thoughts by the feeling of a warm hand patting her head. Startled at first, she looked up to find Sparda smiling reassuringly at her while stroking her head.

"Take it easy there"

She managed to get a hold of herself after a short while, but she still clung to Sparda's coat for a bit longer.

"I should be going now, my liege..."

"Ah, good luck then..."

"Uhm..."

Just as the older girl was about to move, she was stopped by the weak calling of the young child. Looking back at her she found Olivie actually making eye contact with her for the first time without breaking it right away.

"...Be careful..."

"Your Highness"

A gentle smile and a bow were the replied Himmel gave her in return for her words before preparing to leave again.

"I'll be seeing you later tonight to discuss the results of the meeting"

"Understood"

And after Sparda's last order she finally exited the room through one of the doors at the sidewall, with the echo from her footsteps lingering for a short while before fading away along with her presence.

"..."

"Say, Sparda..."

"What is it?"

"Is Claus gonna be on that meeting too?"

"..."

"Uh... Who...?"

Rather than actually answering back, both Sparda and Olivie just kept glaring at each other for a while with a weird mixture of confusion and disbelief.

"..."

"...Don't tell me that you really forgot about Claus...?"

"..."

"...Oh... You mean the Ingvalt brat...?"

"HEY! Don't talk about him like that...!"

"Well sorry, but... That friend of yours has always been a pain to deal with for me, so..."

"Mou... Why can't you two get along...?"

"Hey I'm not the one with the problem here. That brat has been against me from the beginning..."

"Well... I guess is true that he's not too fond of you. But... I'm sure there is an explanation for that..."

"Hmph... Yeah, maybe he likes you and is jealous because we seem to be close. How's that for an explanation..."

"Sparda. Claus isn't like that at all, so please cut it out with that already... Geez, and I thought you weren't like everyone else..."

And then, it was Sparda's turn to look back at Olivie with disbelief in his eyes...

"...Really...?"

"...Wh-what...?"

"...No, really...?"

"What?!"

"..Sigh... Never mind... This conversation is already going in a direction I don't feel comfortable with and I have no obligation to take part in it if I don't feel like it..."

"Hey! Wait you...!"

"But to answer your earlier question... No, _Claus_ isn't going to attend it either, it seems he is still stuck at Mismarca's citadel, just like yours or Ixpellia's situation..."

"Hah... So you _do_ remember about Ixy..."

"Well, that's because unlike your _boy_ friend, she didn't try to kill me with an explosive tomato..."

"Hmm... Is that so...?"

"...What's with that reaction...?"

"...But now that I think about it... It's really been a long time since you met Ixy too, right Sparda?"

"...Yeah, I rather not show up at Galea more than necessary. Things were already complicated from the beginning, but now that Griffon joined Ixpellia's side, they could take a turn for the worst if we're not careful..."

"I... guess you're right..."

"It can't be help... I'm not exactly well liked by some..."

Before Sparda realize it, Olivie had reimposed her hold on him. Her tiny hands holding the right sleeve of his coat and, as soon as she noted that Sparda was looking at her, she offered him a sweet and warm smile in return...

...And Sparda's answer to that was a dry chuckle...

"...Huh...? …What's this?... Don't get too cocky, you brat... You are still a few hundreds of years too early to try and cheer _me_ up..."

Still, it was fairly obvious that Sparda didn't meant his words in a serious or negative way. The fact that, as he talked back to Olivie, he actually lifted his arm and allowed her to hang from it as if playing a game was a pretty clear evidence.

"...So you say now... Just you wait, the day when I'll be able to prove you wrong is closer than you can imagine..."

And Olivie's overexcitement was also proof of how much she was actually enjoying it. Not only that, but when she replied to Sparda's comment she actually did it with a far more upbeat and confident attitude than usual, even releasing the hold of her right arm on the man so she could used it to point at him in an _intimidating_ manner... Sort of...

"Hoh... Well then, I shall be waiting with eager anticipation..."

"You better do"

Satisfied after making her point heard, she simply let go of her grip and landed swiftly back in the ground...

"Anyway, Sparda... If you weren't on your way to that meting, then... Where were you going?"

"...? …Oh, I was heading to the central courtyard... I still have my duties with the castle's army after all"

And it seemed that that little piece of information wasn't what Olivie wanted to hear...

"Eeh... But I was hoping we could have breakfast together..."

"Well, as much as I'd prefer to do that, I have work to do. Besides I had a sort of late dinner before..."

Although Sparda really tried to make his reasons clear, he just couldn't keep going at it when he saw the sulking face the girl was making. And certainly the way she was looking down at the ground with disappointment in her eyes wasn't comforting at all...

"..._(Well, it's been months since the last time I spent time with her...)_ ...Sigh... All right, all right... I get it already. Even if I'm not free right now, thanks to how hastily those old fools at the Council pulled the whole meeting off, I do happen to have some spare time in the afternoon..."

"Really...!"

It was really surprising for Sparda how quickly the child recovered, even if it wasn't the first time he saw it.

"...Sigh... Yes, really. We were supposed to have a field practice today, but it has been postpone for another day now. So how about we have some tea later on..."

The girl's reply ended up coming not in the form of words, but in a tight and unexpected hug.

"Hmm! It's a promise then"

"...Sure, sure..."

Truthfully, sometimes he was just too soft with her...

"You two seem to be in a good mood... Did something happen?"

"Ah! Matier guess what, guess what..."

And while Sparda didn't found Matier's conveniently timed appearance unwelcome it certainly was unexpected, especially considering that she showed up from right behind them where the only thing to be found was the wall.

But what was truly ironic for him was the fact that he didn't found the maid's apparition trick odd in the least, not even when he first saw it years ago. It wasn't such a surprising fact either, not since he had given up hope of not getting involved with eccentric weirdos a long time ago...

"Ara? Is it just me, or did you just thought something very rude about me, Sparda?"

"Nah, it's just your imagination..."

"Hmm... Is that so?"

Not only Matier didn't seem convinced at all, but her gray eyes kept giving Sparda a sharp, unbreakable stare.

"...Busted..."

That was the sly remark courtesy of the nine year old girl towards the ancient knight...

"It's okay. I'll let it pass this time around since you already agree to spent some time with the mistress..."

"Right! Right!"

Again Olivie's sudden comment was made before Sparda could even replied. Maybe he was beginning to imagine things but the little girl seemed too cheerful all of a sudden.

"At any rate lady Olivie, you really need to hurry up and start with your breakfast. Even if you managed to start your day earlier than usual, you already wasted enough time as it is..."

"...Oh! Sorry. I'm going now. You better not forget your promise Sparda..."

"...Sigh... I won't, I won't. Don't worry about it..."

Giving a single nod and one final smile in a gesture of approval for Sparda's answer, Olivie finally went back to her own morning activities, as well as leaving him alone with Matier, much to his dismay.

"You spoil her too much"

As if the fact that her comment coming so suddenly wasn't enough, Matier didn't even bother to look at Sparda as their new argument unfold, both figures just kept facing in the same direction their _little girl_ took, even after she exited the main hall.

"...Straight to the point, huh?... And are you trying to tell me that you don't?..."

"I treat her with the adequate amount of discipline and tenderness..."

"...And I am harsh with her too, when the situation calls for it..."

"All that is meaningless if you just start acting in such a soft manner the rest of the time..."

"...Sigh... What do you want me to do...?... In the first place, I'm terrible when dealing with children..."

"And just for how long do you plan to keep using that excuse? Is that all the ancient dark knight of legends amounts for...? ...Well, it´s not as if I can call you a liar either... Indeed you would make for an awful father"

"...Well, thank you. Why don't you try telling me something I don't know already next time..."

"But speaking of excuses, Sparda..."

"What now?"

"You should try to come up with some that actually match your reputation... An explosive tomato, really...?"

"Hey, it happen!... Why is it that nobody believes me?"

"Even if it did, I really doubt that would be enough to harm you let alone kill you"

"Sigh... Whatever you say Matier..."

Honestly, Sparda just didn't felt like starting a fight with the redheaded maid. As a matter of fact, he always tried to avoid having any sort of clash with her as much as possible. And while indeed, there were all sort of rumors about the girl, the thing was... they weren't just rumors...

He could still remember that one incident where she had actually split in half an assassin that had tried to make an attempt towards Olivie's life with a single swing of her sword. Sure, he tried to do exactly the same at the time too, but he wasn't a 15 year old girl... who happened to move faster than him...

He also doubted that anything had change in her in the last 4 years since then that made her softer...

So, Sparda simply assumed that it would be for the best to stay on her good side. Fighting her would be too much of a drag anyway...

"Honestly, you two have a rather odd relationship..."

It was right after saying those words that Matier began to move after her mistress.

"Tell me about it, I don't really think that girl understands what the concept of our contract is supposed to be..."

Sparda actually let out a far more honest and natural chuckle at his own comment, the words also causing Matier to stop for a moment before speaking again... in a rather hesitant tone...

"You know... I once asked her just what was her opinion about the contract you two made..."

"Really now. And what did she said?"

"She said that, for her, you weren't her contractor... That you were her hero... She looks up to you... That girl really loves you..."

"...Sigh... I know that..."

Having said all she needed, Matier once again prepared to leave.

"Well, as long as you keep that in mind, I suppose you'll do for now... All that aside, don't you have somewhere else to go Sparda...?"

"... ...Yes, I do..."

"And..."

"...Sigh... But I don't want to..."

* * *

><p>But in spite of those words Sparda found himself right at the entrance of that dreadful place when not even 3 minutes had passed since he and Matier parted ways.<p>

Standing in front of the massive double doors that served as a connection between the central courtyard and the dinning hall, the only thing he did was stare at them with a blank expression on his face...

"...Maybe I should call in sick today...?"

But that idea died shortly afterwards, when Sparda suddenly felt a distant but piercing stare from behind him. He didn't look back in search for the source though, Why to bother? When he already knew the cause of the annoying sensation...

"...Sigh. So much for that"

Finally resigned to the inevitable, Sparda began to approach the massive doors. Placing his hands on top of them so that he could start to push them open...

"...Who knows, maybe today they won't be acting like..."

"**YEEEEEAAAAAAAAH...!"**

That massive and distorted roar, courtesy of the few dozens of figures gathered at the center of the hall, was the thing that cut Sparda's _plea_ short. But not only that, the collected screams had been so ridiculously intense that the shockwave produced by it made the tails of his coat flutter by themselves.

And yet Sparda didn't actually tried to do anything about it other than keep staring at the group of soldiers with that very same blank expression from before.

"...On the bright side... At least I didn't get to finish that sentence..."

Choosing to ignore the deafening noise for the moment, Sparda finally ventured within the room, coming to a stop when he had covered half the distance between the entrance and the closer members of the overexcited group. He raised one eyebrow when, after several seconds been so close to each other, none of the soldiers seemed to register his presence at all.

Well, it wasn't that surprising, since the whole bunch of people ended gathering in a ring formation of sorts, with whatever it was unfolding inside of it capturing their attention and the mighty yells of the audience only helping in isolating them from any distraction from the outside world.

Once again, Sparda didn't do much about it. He just let out yet another sigh while bringing a hand to his face and shaking his head all at the same time. This actions also caused the bangs of his hair to be messed up even more and ended up blocking his eyes, but he simply ignore it in favor of keep observing the events occurring in front of him.

Even if not exactly amused by the sight of the soldiers that he was supposed to trained acting like a bunch of kids... again, one figure did managed to catch his attention.

Taking a quick look at the wall at his far left, Sparda was able to see him... A tall man, almost the same height as his, with long black hair that already reached his back and with some black bangs hanging in front of the man's forehead. He even had some facial hair on his chin as well. He was wearing a similar attire to Sparda's only without the coat and while the black vest he had on left his bare, well toned arms exposed, they were mostly wrapped by some black leather straps.

And to act as the finishing touch for the man's unique appearance was yet another leather strap, this one tied around his head completely covering his left eye.

But it wasn't the way he looked what allowed Sparda to find this man in all the commotion happening around, oh no... it was the aura around him. For all the chaos produced by the people in the room, that man was the only one that gave a vibe of absolute apathy, almost as if saying something among the lines of...

_Yeah, I don't give a damn about what you're doing, just get it over with already..._

"...Sigh... Serves me right..."

While the responsibility of looking after the troops assigned to Olivie wasn't solely his, the fact that the others that were meant to help him bear that burden could only be regarded as eccentric weirdos (at best) was a huge _impediment_ for the ancient knight.

And the man that was simply leaning against the wall and calmly looking at the spectacle performed by his subordinates was probably the biggest impediment of all.

Deciding to confront his old time colleague instead of the derailed masses, Sparda began to make his way through the sea of people, finding the fact that they were still oblivious of his arrival, even while passing through them, quite convenient.

Well, it really wasn't such a strange fact, considering that Sparda had kept his presence hidden from them ever since he entered the room.

He also managed to find out what was the cause of all the commotion, a fight unsurprisingly. And while he wasn't able to see who were the ones participating in it at first, thanks to the numerous heads blocking his view (as well as the many other times where he had to make sure not to get hit by the overexcited crowd), the answer ended up coming to him on its own. All thanks to the voice of one of the _performers_...

Thanks to the shouting crowd, Sparda was only able to hear fragments of the conversation, but that was all he needed.

After all, the words spoken were ones he had come to know very well... and to disdain as well...

"... ...name... ,,,andantess, the greatest swordsman of all of..."

_CLANK!_

"Shut up and fight!"

In the end however, the man's words were interrupted, not by the screams of the people around, but by the pinkette girl that was his opponent and who, having apparently grown tired of the his idle chat, had thrown the scabbard of her sword at him.

To her credit, not only did she managed to hit the guy's head and knot the tricorne he was wearing too, but she was even able to catch the scabbard after it bounced back from the force of the hit. She even brushed aside her ponytail afterwards, giving the impression that she thought nothing of her little feat.

All of that meant nothing for Sparda though, who after learning the identities of the ones fueling the chaotic behavior of everyone in the room, had to suppress the urge of bang his head against the wall due to the exasperation the revelation brought along.

Giving one last frustrated look in the direction where those two were standing, Sparda was able to get a clear view of the two for the first time. A fact that made his desire to blew the wall to debris with his head grow stronger.

But of course he didn't do anything, instead he just kept going his way until he was finally face to face with the (un)amused man.

"Well, hello there Sparda. Nice to see you finally decided to join us"

"...? ...Is it just me, or do you always seem to be fond of pointless talk the most when you know you did something wrong, Bolverk?"

"...You're probably right about that..."

It wasn't the offhandedly way that Bolverk responded back what pissed Sparda the most, it was the fact that he himself didn't really care about it what truly got on his nerves.

But most of those negative thoughts were soon forgotten thanks to Sparda finally noticing the other five figures lined up at the wall.

The one at Bolverk's right wasn't all that surprising, being the man's very own sword-spear weapon, the only object that was bound to the warrior's existence so intimately that it was pretty much a reflection of his very being, even bearing the same name as its master... Bolverk's devil arm.

But the four at the left, those were something else...

The group of three was probably the one that would stood out the most for anyone, not just because they were the closest to the tall man, but because of how unique they all looked, be it as a whole or just individually.

The little girl that was crouching at the center, with both knees placed against her chest, was the one who caught Sparda's attention the easiest and not only thanks to her bright red hair but also because of the snores that came along with her breathing. Then again, anyone that could fall asleep in the midst of all that chaos was worth of notice, one way or the other.

As for her two companions, the two large wolves, white as specters, who were just sitting at both off her sides were certainly a sight to behold but their behavior was even more peculiar, with one of them just yawning nonchalantly even when facing the sea of motions that was right in front while the other just kept glaring at the whole thing with the same apathetic aura of the man next to it.

And as for the last of them, yet another wolf, this one with light blue fur that seemed to resemble the sight of a clear sky, Zafira. Well, in Sparda's opinion the only reason why he stood out was because, being so normal, the noble guardian just look out of place in the company of the others.

In fact, the moment he noticed Sparda, he immediately nodded at him as a form of greeting, an act that Sparda responded in kind. Not that they had much of a choice, since the growing bustle of the room made any other form of greeting pretty much useless.

Well, there was still telepathy but there weren't many out there willing to try that with him, and Sparda had the feeling that it was somehow thanks to Himmel.

But, after putting all those idle thoughts aside, Sparda became aware once again of how irresponsibly stupid the people that were supposed to guard Olivie's life were acting.

"...Sigh... Whatever. So... Bolverk, mind telling me what the hell happened in here?"

"Just so we're clear, I tried to stop it..."

"Hmm... Is that so...?"

"You don't believe me, do you...?"

"Why don't you just focus on explaining things to me for now"

"Honestly? I'm not even sure what the hell happen either..."

"Bolverk... Even I have so much patience when dealing with excuses..."

"...No, no... I mean it. Things just turned like this in an instant..."

"..."

"You see, when the two of us arrived here earlier there was already an argument going on between the sleeping beauty here and the _"_deadly hottie_"_…"

Sparda became quite surprised at the other man's statement, not so much because of the actual explanation (after all, he had already figured as much) but at the fact that, for the first time ever since he entered the room, Bolverk had shifted the position of his arms from a resting crossed position in order to be able to used air quotes. It was really rare for hell's hunter to make such a stupid joke.

And as soon as he was done he returned to his original stance.

Although from Sparda's perspective, Bolverk's flat tone of voice pretty much made the gesture meaningless anyway...

"...And so after we separated them I brought this one over here. Seriously, I only turned my back on those two long enough to have Freki and Geri keep an eye on her until you arrived but when I turned back, well..."

"So you just chose to deal with Vita and left those two, who have more ego and pride than blood in their veins, all alone on their own...?"

"Well... pretty much... It would have been too much of a pain for me otherwise..."

"And didn't you said you tried to stop them...?"

"Yes, I tried indeed"

"And?"

"And what?"

"Sigh... No, nothing... Never mind..."

"Complain all you want, but now that you are here... Shouldn't you be trying to stop them?"

"...I know..."

It was right after saying that, while Sparda turned back to look at the still ongoing commotion with a tired look, when they caught sight of a pillar of fire erupting from the ground, releasing such a thunderous roar that it completely overwhelmed the shouting of the people it had blew away.

"...And they just blasted a hole in the ceiling. So, are you gonna do it or what?"

"I was just giving them the chance to enjoy themselves out of courtesy. After all, after what is about to happen... **They won't get that chance anytime soon...**"

As for what actually happened next... Well, no one could tell for sure, not even Signum. And that was something that would remain a mystery for pretty much the rest of her life.

One moment she was holding her beloved sword firmly, just about to feint a stab at her opponent, who not only was able to withstand her last attack head on but was even going on in another speech, with melodramatic gestures to boot. But then something... dark suddenly enveloped everything.

Next thing she knew, she was lying flat on the ground, with a bump on the back of her head and her weapon gone from her grasp. All the noisy people that had surrounded them were now scattered across the hall.

Taking a kneeling position while her body recovered, Signum began to look around in search for her now missing opponent. And after almost only three seconds in her task she found him...

With his head buried into the ground...

He was still alive though, the way he kept struggling and the moanings from beneath the floor were clear evidence of that.

Still, there was no way he could get out anytime soon. Not while the ironclad boot of the figure next to him kept pressing his head against the ground.

Now, while not exactly as famous or revered as her leader, the commander of the Order of the Sword, Signum was still a very well known figure among its members as one of the most capable fighters, a prodigy in the art of the sword coupled with her affinity with fire elemental magic. Not to mention that she was also widely regarded as a hot headed beauty capable of beating into submission anyone fool enough to say such comments aloud, as well as any senior officer that would get on her nerves, within seconds.

And when compared with that list of charming qualities, the chain of reactions the appointed Knight of the Sword displayed after coming back to her senses was so blatantly out of character, that no one would ever believe such an event ever happen. From utterly clueless to boiling with rage, until finally settling with a middle ground between skepticism and absolute horror, Signum's facial expression had shifted so many times in such a short time that, had anyone see it, would probably ended up suffering from facial cramps.

Not that anyone actually saw it...

With the exception of Bolverk, the three guardian beasts and the petite Knight of the Hammer, whom had remained next to the wall observing everything from the distance (and in one specific case, just leisurely talking while sleeping), everyone else in the room were either unconscious, regaining consciousness or simply in the exact same situation as the pinkette swordswoman...

Glaring in dread at the tall, silver haired man standing at the center of the room...

...Who, by the way, was still pressing the other guy's head deeper into the ground...

Against all common sense, the first thing Signum tried to do was address the man...

"...Co-commander...?"

"You know... I should feel disappointed..."

But when Sparda finally began talking, the first and only thought that came to Signum was the idea of running... running like hell out of there, but just as she began considering the option her mind went blank when she sensed Sparda moving.

She was also really grateful when she noticed that Sparda was still facing away from her...

"...Disappointed, not in your behavior, but with me and the fact that I'm not surprised in the least about it. But the thing is, I'm so used to ..._this_... that I don't even feel like being disappointed..."

And then the alarms that were Signum's instincts start yelling at her not to be a fool and to run for it while she still could...

"...Oh, but don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I don't care about it either..."

Only for Sparda's voice to silenced any form of opposition her subconscious could muster...

"...After all, even if not disappointed, I still feel very very annoyed by it"

As if the words hadn't been enough for his battered audience, the moment Sparda finished his statement, his body released a flash of dark light that ended up turning all the ruble left by Signum's last attack into dust.

But the finishing blow came when, as he turned around to face in her general direction, Sparda showed a rather serene smile

"So I guess we'll just have to do something about it, won't we?"

A smile that didn't even lasted for 10 seconds before it was replaced by a glare that only spelled doom no matter how you saw it.

"I want all of you to head to the castle's entrance. We'll be doing a field exercise at Ferrum Hills in ten minutes"

"Bu-but sir... it doesn't seem like so-some of the men will be able to regain consciousness... in just ten minutes... sir..."

Sparda only stared back nonchalantly at the soldier as he spoke and only bothered to keep doing so until he answered back.

"Well, even if they are unconscious, I'm sure I'll be able to find some way they can be of use to us. So just take them with you"

After giving his answer Sparda's attention went back at Bolverk's group near the wall.

"Go with them and make sure they behave, Zafira"

"As you command"

Following the order, Zafira left along with most of the other soldiers, which of course included the ones that were still unconscious. However before Signum could even began considerate following them, Sparda finally began to approach her, all the while without taking his eyes away from her. It really didn't help that, despite being shadowed by Sparda's hair, she could still make them out perfectly, almost as if they were glowing...

Incidentally, it was right after taking his first step when Sparda finally relieved the pressure he had forced unto the other guy's head. Although by then the man had pretty much went still to the point where it was really hard to even tell if he was still breathing.

But Signum couldn't care any less about that. Her one and only concern at the moment was the figure of the man standing right in front of her, casting his shadow over her while looking down at her with those two blue orbs that seemed to be piercing her very core...

"How many times does this make so far, Signum?"

Even if her mouth opened in order for her to reply, in the end that was all she could do. Maybe it was the fact that she knew there was no way she could make her situation look anyway better regardless of the answers she could give, or maybe it was the imposing presence Sparda emanated while being just three feet away from her, the point was she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

So she opted to try and answer truthfully. At the very least she wouldn't be accused of lying.

"...I'm not really sure..."

"Neither am I"

And for a brief moment she thought it had worked, with Sparda's comment apparently conceding to her own.

"Well, not that it matters anyway. The fact that you keep getting into these nonsensical fights over and over again still stands..."

Seriously, Signum was really lucky for the fact that almost every person in the room had left already, that way no one was able to see how the hopeful look in her eyes shattered with Sparda's dismissive remark.

"Now then, I'm sure you're already aware of what is going to happen next. So... **Ready for it...**?"

Almost as if it never happened, Sparda's earlier calm tone of vice disappeared, replaced by a far more harsh and distorted yet still collected version, one that actually matched the foreboding aura that emanated from him. And once again, against all better judgment, Signum ended up facing the man head on.

Slowly but steady, the General of the Raging Fire assumed a more proper kneeling position and took one long, deep breath before locking her eyes with the old hero's.

"I am"

"Good... Now Signum, you certainly have talent and skills which surpasses many others I met, and I'm not questioning that, far from it. It was because I was able to see your potential as a warrior and your unwavering resolve that I agreed to become your instructor. And indeed in all these years you have grow both as a knight and a leader..."

Despite her situation Signum couldn't help but feel quite content with the words of _praise _her commanding officer was using, to the point that her face began to display an ever so slight shade of pink. But Sparda's following actions put an end to the girl's happy world.

"However..."

Before continuing, Sparda took a deep breath of his own and closed his eyes, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out with a short sigh. And the moment he opened his eyes...

"**That doesn't mean you can just go and act like a hopeless fool whenever you feel like it, you insolent brat...!"**

...Everything went to hell, metaphorically and quite possibly literally too...

For starters the whole place was swallowed by darkness once again, yet she could still make out the shadows that had been in display before, almost as if they had grew even darker than the blackness that had consumed everything around. But not only that...

"**You are supposed to be my second in command, the one person I should be able to entrust that child's life without second thought..."**

Almost as if resonating with Sparda's every word, these unnatural shadows began to grew in size too, and Signum could had sworn she saw them changing, turning into something that resembled elongated, curved blades which then began to swirl around her. There was no way for her to confirm it though, not while her eyes were still unable to break away from Sparda's intense glare...

"**I'll give you one chance to explain yourself, so you better make good use of it"**

"Noooo...! the Holiday Armadillo is eating Sargent Doughnut...!"

...

"...Th-that wasn't me, I swear!"

But by the time Signum was able to say that, everything returned to its original appearance as Sparda's attention was redirected towards Bolverk's wall and the child-like figure that was soundly sleeping there.

Not only Sparda, but Signum and even Freki and Geri turned to look at their blissfully unaware companion. Being the closest one to her Freki tried to wake her up, but the only thing that accomplished was being smack in the head with Graf Eisen's sealed form.

Even while the spectral beast had to be restrain by it's sibling from lashing back at Vita, all she did was shift her position so she could now lay down on the ground.

As for Bolverk, he just kept watching everything with his usual blank expression, as if the events that just occurred weren't anything out of the ordinary. And they really weren't actually.

"Vita, wake up"

And while Sparda's voice wasn't all that intense, almost as if he was talking to Signum rather than Vita...

"...! ...I'm awake, I'm awake. I am to... Ahhh!"

...She was still able to hear his command all the way from across the room and followed it in an instant. But not only that, as soon as she woke up she immediately made her way towards him, or at least she tried until she tripped with her own foot and fell on her face. She still made it though, after skidding the rest of the distance that is.

"...See! ...I'm totally awake...!"

"..."

"..."

"Terrific... Now Signum... **You really need to grow up**"

And along with Sparda's voice, the distorted darkness returned for one final, albeit brief moment.

"...NO!. How can you say that? I mean look at her, she is already a freaking... boob... ...demon... and now you're telling her to grow even more... How's that fair?..."

But it wasn't Signum the one to silence the redhead and her outburst, she was too busy feeling way too embarrassed and taken aback, after all. It was Sparda who took care of that.

"... ...Vita, you all are magical creations with artificial bodies. No matter how hard you try, in the end you will forever be stuck with the bodies of a child and a big chested girl, so get over it already"

It wasn't really that surprising when both girls ended up sulking on the ground while touching or probably covering their breasts with their hands. Although Vita would occasionally cast an annoyed glance at Signum.

"Wow... Way to have tact there..."

Since he already had enough time for his apathy to go wild for a bit, Bolverk finally left the sidelines and approached the two emotionally beaten girls and their annoyed overseer.

"What? Are you finally done watching everything from your seat?"

"Well, even I have so much patience when dealing with such stupid comedy acts"

"I'm not in the mood Bolverk, so shut up"

"I can tell. Anyway, don't you think its about time we go, I'm sure Zafira can take care of that bunch of rookies but I also know you want to _beat _some sense into them too"

"...Sigh... I guess I already wasted enough time in here. Alright you two get up, we're leaving"

"...But, sir..."

Signum's call came just as Sparda was about to turn and leave, and since he wasn't as disturbed with her behavior as before, he gave her the chance to voice her thoughts.

"What about Laevatein...?"

"Oh, right..."

Finally remembering that he had kept the sword within his grip all along, Sparda lifted his arm as to show it to the girl while he sheathed it back.

"Sure, you can have it back. Just come and get it"

"...Wh-what...?"

And the terrified look the girl gave away at the challenge imposed on her was far more intense than any she made earlier.

"Relax, I'm just joking. I'll give it back to you after we're done with today's practice"

"But what am I suppose..."

"Oh don't worry. I'm sure _we_ can figure something out together, right?"

Even when she had been willing to face Sparda in the past, the moment Signum saw the crazy smirk that appeared in his face she understood how futile any form of resistance would be.

"...Right..."

"Heh, I'm gonna miss you big tits"

"By the way Vita..."

Just when Vita thought she had found a chance to get back at the _older_ girl, she was force to meet Sparda face to face, quite literally, since the moment she turned in his direction she found him crouching in order to be at the same eye level. She was mostly really freak out because of that, but there was a small part of her that couldn't help but feel somehow resentful for it as well.

And she was really taken off guard when the next thing Sparda did was pull out a handkerchief which he used to start whipping the dirt and drool off her face.

"...You better go wash your face first..."

"...Huh... But why, it's gonna get all dirty again at the practice anyway..."

But before Vita could continue, Sparda cut her statement short as he placed his hand on her head and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Don't argue... Just go..."

"...Fine..."

"Well then Signum, let's get going. I have an appointment later in the afternoon, so the sooner I beat the crap out of you the better"

"...I-is that so...?"

Having said those words, Sparda and the other two members of the Wolkenritter finally left the dining hall, and with Freki and Geri having already taken a head start earlier, Bolverk was the last one to proceed to the exit.

_BOOM!_

"GYAAAAAHHHHHHG... Th-that... that... THAT WASN'T FUNNY YOU BASTARDS... I ALMOST DIED IN THERE...!"

And that was how the guy that had been left for dead (actually just forgotten) made his existence remembered, or that is how it should had been, the only problem was that there wasn't anyone else left by the time he finally freed his head from the crack on the ground where it had been buried.

After looking around the room the only other person he found was Bolverk, who was just one step away from the door...

"DAMMIT BOLVERK... ARE YOU LISTENING...?"

"...? ... Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Did you say something?"

And of course Bolverk's comment didn't came without his usual blank stare.

"STOP MESSING AROUND, YOU..."

_CLANK!_

And then his head was hit in the exact same fashion as before, only harder.

"Shut up and come already"

"THAT WAS YOU, RIGHT SPARDA? DAMMIT... YOU ALL ARE HORRIBLE FRIENDS, YOU KNOW THAT...?"

"We're not your friends"

Bolverk only stayed behind long enough to say that, and once done he just followed after Sparda and the others.

After being left alone, the only thing the poor guy was able to do was pick up his now tarnish hat and followed after them too.

"...Sigh ...Sometimes, you really make getting along hard..."

But as soon as he was able to caught up with Bolverk, all those thoughts disappeared when he became aware of something...

"Say, where is Berial? I don't think I've seen him at all today"

"You know that little doll of a fallen angel is going to the meeting that was arranged last night, right...?"

"Yes, I was there when they agree on that..."

"Well, Sparda sent Berial to keep an eye on things there..."

"Huh? But wasn't that Arkham supposed to be attending as well? Why did he bother to send another one of us then?"

"What are you saying?"

It was right at the moment he suddenly came to a stop to look clearly at the other devil that, for the first time in a long time, Bolverk's face and voice both turned serious.

"It's precisely because of that that he did it"

* * *

><p>"..."<p>

Darkness again...

Maybe it was just him, but lately it seemed that every time he woke he was always surrounded by darkness.

And truthfully, it was starting to become quite annoying.

"... A dream again..."

But not as annoying as the sort of things he kept seeing in his dreams.

Time after time, he would always see fragments of stories past.

Always seeing events that had nothing to do with him and never getting anything useful in return.

Most of the times the only things he saw were nothing short of irrelevant facts, and as if that wasn't enough, once awake he would have forgotten most of what he saw.

"Sigh... How foolish"

However, that didn't meant he never got anything out of it.

Closing his eyes while still lying on the mattress, he took a deep breath and began to look back at whatever images were still in his memory, with as many details as could gather.

The visions themselves were of no importance to him, but at the very least they help him to recall his own past from the deepest corners of his mind.

No matter how harsh, how loathsome, how painful those memories, his own memories were; they were the only things he could not afford to forget. He had no right to do so... He could not bring himself to do so...

"Tch..."

Having enough remembrance of his past sins, he finally took a sitting position at the edge of his improvised bed, a single worn out mattress on top of a large stone ledge.

The room was filled with darkness, lacking any source of light be it from a lamp, a window or even a candle, there were only four cold stonewalls, the oxidized metal door in front of him, his shabby bed and a large piece of rubble at his side. And all of it was shrouded by shadows.

And yet, even while sitting still in the middle of that cesspool of darkness and with locks of his brushed down white hair covering his face, his bright blue eyes were still visible, almost as if lit by their own light while giving off a sharp piercing glare as their owner indulge himself in a deep thought.

They didn't look anything like the eyes of someone who had just woken up from his sleep.

And they certainly didn't look like the eyes of someone who had rested well.

Before long however, he brought himself back to reality after no longer feeling like wasting time in _idle _thoughts.

As he stood up, and without bothering to look, he reached for the piece of rubble that was at his right and took the chained amulet that was lying there. Keeping it firm within his grip he began to move towards the door.

Much like his eyes, the crimson jewel that rested at the center of the gold medallion seemed to shine on its own, a glow that had increased even if just ever so slightly the moment he had touched it.

He gave it a sideways glance out of habit and the moment he caught sight of the scarlet tone he remembered that...

...Red eyes...

"...What?"

He had seen those eyes in that dream and along with them was that feeling, a sensation that he had felt somewhere before.

"...Those eyes... Whose...?"

But the more he tried to remember the messier it became in his mind.

"...I know I've seen...? Felt...?Something like that before, but… ... That city...!"

But even after finally reaching an answer, he never got the chance to figure out what to do with it, not after sensing a familiar presence approaching.

"So much for my break, it seems"

Finally opening the door and exiting the room, he stepped into the large hallway at the other side just in time to be spotted by the approaching figure.

"Vergil..."

After turning towards the direction the feeling of static came from at the mention of his name, Vergil came face to face with the one that had call out to him

Navy-blue, medium length and somehow unkempt hair, with most of the bangs at the front kept to the right, so as to prevent them from getting in the way of his violet eyes. He was wearing a black bussiness suit of all things, with a matching black tie.

A few sets of files were held in his left hand.

Just one glance at his eyes and posture and anyone would be able to tell that he was the dead serious type.

Vergil only spared him one quick glare before turning in the opposite direction before he began to walk away.

"So it was you. Giving that you are here, I take that moron is already expecting me to go back to work"

The other person didn't seem bothered at all by Vergil's behavior, far from it. He just began walking next to him and talked back with a tone that matched his calm demeanor.

"It can't be help. We just got word of an incident that took place a few hours ago, and it apparently involves some of those artificial _hearts_. We also confirmed that woman is involved in it... It appears she finally began to move..."

"...Is that so? I see... And since I am the one they force to keep an eye on her, he opted to send me... And yet, I seem to recall it was him the one who approved her project in the first place..."

Even while carrying their conversation, both figures kept walking across the ancient hallways that littered the place, until finally reaching an elevator which they ended up riding in order to move to the upper levels.

In general, the whole place seemed so old and damaged that it gave the impression that it would just fall apart at any moment, but that was far from the truth.

The ancient tower remained perfectly functional, even after hundreds of years left in oblivion.

Every single mechanism and device within it worked just as fine as it did back during the Unification Wars, and even long before that. It was understandable for people to have the wrong impression though, especially considering that the old structure didn't look any different than the devastated city below.

"Actually, that's not all. Take a look at the site where the _lost logia_ apparently ended..."

After taking one of the files his companion handed him, Vergil actually let out a chuckle the moment he saw its content.

"Non-administrated world #97... Not a very classy joke..."

"There's more"

And as he kept reading, Vergil's dismissive attitud changed quite a bit.

"...Uminari..."

"Too much for a simple coincidence, wouldn't you say? ...Well, you've never been one to believe in coincidences anyway, even if that ended up with you being labeled a paranoid by some..."

"Most of them are already dead while I'm still here... for now..."

Not even while replying that last comment or exiting the elevator did Vergil's attention leave the information contained in the file he was holding.

"There is one more thing Vergil, although we don't have enough intel yet to confirm if it is true..."

"What is it now?"

"It seems that girl was deployed as well... It looks like that woman has..."

"...That's none of my concern... The deal Testarossa and I made has already been fulfilled... At this point in time she is of no use to me anymore and she no longer requires our resources either. Whatever she does now, it's solely on her..."

"Even if you say that, we just can't afford to disobey our orders right now..."

"You sound as if you actually believe _he_ is not aware of what we're doing..."

"AND... you seem to be making a lot of excuses lately, bro..."

Despite the intrusion of a new voice, neither of the two reacted much to it, they only turned towards the higher portion of the wall at their right, where they found the owner sitting on top of a large concrete beam in the ceiling. Yet another male.

"...Don't tell me you're going through a rebellious crisis, Verg..."

And as soon as he finished his sentence he jumped from his position almost 21 feet above while also slashing at the large stone with his fiery claw's fingers. He managed to land smoothly, not even making a sound as he touched the ground, unlike the pieces of rubble that fell behind him, some of which were even glowing, as if overheated, while his hand returned to normal almost instantly. Soon afterwards, he began walking towards them.

"Hardly. And I'm not making excuses either, I'm just not willing to waste my time on a fool's errand, especially when I still have other matters to settle..."

The newcomer's dark-red hair was kept in a brushed down manner, similar to Vergil's, if only slightly shorter and with the bangs at the front somehow parted near the end, leaving the savage glint present in his scarlet eyes perfectly visible. He even sported a matching suit to that of the blue haired devil.

The vicious grin that formed in his lips once he was face to face with Vergil was just something extra.

"Yeah... That sounds more like you, dude..."

And while Vergil didn't seem to care for the newcomer's attitude and simply kept going his way, the other member of their small group looked slightly annoyed by him.

"And just what were you doing up there? Don't tell me you were waiting just to make your entrance..."

"Yeah, as if... Who do you think I am, _our_ little brother? I was taking a nap, I figured this would be one of the last places where anyone would look for me later on. But then all of a sudden a couple of fools just ended waking me up..."

"If you have enough time to fool around then why don't you try to actually work for once (clean after your own mess)"

"Don't wanna"

After catching the second file that had been thrown his way, the only thing the red haired guy did was turn the whole thing into one big ball of paper which he then threw over his shoulder. However, before it could even touched the ground, the discarded files suddenly burst out in flames, turning into ashes not even two seconds later.

"You certainly like to act as if this isn't your problem at all..."

"Well, that's because unlike you, I don't give a damn about the end result, I only joined this little ride of ours for the thrill..."

"So much for your loyalty it seems..."

"Oh c'mon now Al... Why..."

"WHY... are you two still following me?"

After having enough nonsense courtesy of his two companions, Vergil finally put an end to their noisy chat. Seriously, he even tried to leave those two behind before they could get started, but they just followed him all the same.

"Dunno... Cause I'm bored...?"

"(Over ten years and these idiots still get on my nerves...) ...? (...That was... oddly familiar...)"

"If you're not planing to follow his orders Vergil, then where are you going?"

Vergil simply tossed back the remaining file without even bothering to look as _Al_ caught it effortlessly. He just kept going across the hallway and towards the massive metal door which was flanked by skeletal statues at both sides.

Extending his right arm outwards, a dark aura began to cover his hand, faintly at first but it soon escalated until his whole arm was surrounded by a cyclone of darkness. It almost looked as if the shadows that existed in the room were an extension of Vergil's own arm.

Then, after seizing it within an iron grip, he pulled the swirling darkness off the world around, which then began to wrapped itself tightly around his body as it took a far more familiar form.

With one brief flash of dark light, Vergil was once again clad in his own dark coat. Faint traces of the dark aura from which it had been forged still remained and it gave the impression that the four ravaged tails of the garment were actual wings made out of shadows.

As he adjusted his right hand's glove, without letting go of the golden chain of his amulet, Vergil took the final steps towards the exit.

"I'm going back to Uminari... I'm sure the two of you felt it as well... There is something else in that place and I think I'm starting to understand just what it is... As for Testarossa... I'll see how to deal with that after I'm done there..."

Those were the last words he said before crossing the door, leaving the hallway and the other two devils behind.

"And that's that... Well, I'll go take a stroll then..."

"...A stroll?"

"What can I say?... Even I get tired of sleeping all the time..."

"Suit yourself"

Once the sound of the door behind him closing reached him, the remaining blue haired devil took one final look at the file in his hand...

"..."

...And it ws then that he realized that one of its pages was slightly torn.

"...None of his concern, he says..."

Letting out a tired sigh, he rubbed the side of his head with his right hand, only for azure sparks to crack between his fingers as he did so.

"...Sigh... Whatever... I'll just go take a nap..."

As he turned around to leave as well, he threw away the now useless papers and then proceeded to shot a bolt of lightning from the tip of his left index finger, effectively getting rid of them.

"...This whole thing hasn't even started and I already have a headache..."

* * *

><p>Vergil's gaze fell upon the city's nocturnal landscape that extend all around from his vantage point at the top of a towering building within the heart of the area. He was particularly interested in a residential district that laid at one of the far ends of the city, and for quite a few reasons.<p>

After he arrived at Uminari, the first thing he had tried to do was search for the presence that had been haunting the place and while he wasn't able to find any new leads he still came upon some faint traces.

From what he could gather from previous encounters he wasn't dealing with something that sporadically showed up at random locations, it was something more among the lines of a large-scale omnidirectional wave. But one particular problem was the fact that the events were always too sudden and brief to the point where it was almost impossible for him to track down the point of origin.

But in an ironic twist, the sudden turn of events that took place earlier that night ended up giving him the means to overcome that problem. While the magical power released by whatever it was there was rather weak, it turned out to still be enough to resonate with other types of similar energies. The fact the Vergil was capable of sensing it despite everything else was a perfect example of that.

So it was possible, in theory, to track down the source through the use of decoys deployed around the place to act as beacons of sorts, giving off signals the moment they reacted to the outside stimulus and helping narrow the area of search. And the lost logia that ended up scattered all over the city filled that role perfectly.

Thanks to that Vergil was able to get a general idea of the source's location within only one minute, which lead his attention to the residential area in the first place.

And it was while he was still observing the scene, trying to get a more accurate location, when he came upon the other reason behind his sudden interest in the suburbs.

It came as sudden as the _cries_ of his main target, but unlike those the sudden flux of magical energy was far more intense and somehow unstable.

Even that far apart from it Vergil was still able to tell all too well jut what exactly was happening over there, how could he not, when he had been witness and participant of it over and over again for as long as he could remember. What was unfolding within the otherwise peaceful neighborhood was simply a battle.

Apparently one of the dormant lost logias had finally gone berserk and someone decided to deal with it... in a rather unpractical way. There was something familiar about the individual fighting the rampant relic though, and once again in a contrasting difference with his first target, he was all too aware of the reason behind that feeling.

Almost as if on cue to his thoughts, he felt yet another outburst of magical power and he was even able to make out a flare of pink light, something that caused him to let out a chuckle.

"If I didn't knew any better, I would have sworn that was you Shiro... …!"

And as if trying to increase his curiosity, right after finishing his sentence Vergil got another _glimpse_ of that ghostly presence. This time however, it was far weaker, probably due to all the other waves of released energy all over the place.

"So... You won't do anything, not even with all this commotion going around, huh? Fair enough... Time may not be on my side, but that doesn't mean I can't afford to wait..."

"...I guess this is as far as I'll be able to go tonight..."

After coming to that conclusion, Vergil moved his eyes from the city to the night sky above, trying to gather his thoughts about what he had learn so far. But then something else took his attention away, with a tired look appearing on his eyes as he began to remember about it.

"Speaking of which..."

He made a small pause in his sentence in order to turn his gaze towards the building right behind him, an apartment building taller than the one he was standing on.

"I still need to deal with that woman"

His eyes narrowing the moment he noticed yet another familiar presence within the upper floors of the neighboring tower.

"It seems I've been giving her way too much freedom lately..."

"...Still..."

After he was done glaring at the other building Vergil returned to look at the sky, while the tired expression from before returned to his face.

"...I would rather avoid going to that place whenever possible..."

That place, the garden of time, just stirred way too many memories...

"Hmph... Sometimes I wonder if that woman chose to take back her residence there just to get back at me..."

He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.

"And... Speaking of unpleasant memories..."

Maybe it was because he finally began to understand more about that unknown presence, or maybe it was because of that dream, but now that he thought about it, he finally realized why he found it so familiar to begin with, ever since he felt it for the first time.

It made him felt in a similar way to how he felt _that_ night, all those years ago...

...The night when his blood had awoken.

It wasn't anywhere near as intense as what he felt back then, but it was still pretty similar.

"…That night... ..."

Even while gazing at the shining moon, Vergil still reached for his chest with his hand out of reflex. He could have sworn he felt the cold steel piercing his flesh once again as the events of that nigh began to replayed in his head

He was spared from keep remembering about it when he became aware of the sealing of the rampant jewel seed.

Once again looking back at the houses at the distance he realized that, effectively the magical energy of the relic was gone and even the energy of the one fighting it before had subsided as well.

"... I supposed I already wasted enough time here..."

With those words he took one final look at the building behind him after he noticed movement coming from the one inside.

Reaching his face with his right hand, Vergil then proceeded to swept back his brushed down hair as a smirk formed once again on his lips.

He began to walk away only to stop after taking just a few steps and then turned to glare briefly at his own shadow.

"Come on, we're leaving"

And then, from within the shadow casted by the moon's light came forth a rather unnatural beast, darker than the blackness from which it was spawned and yet it carried a fine pride within, somehow reminiscent of a lion. The beast kept glaring at the building with its bloody red eyes for a few seconds, even while Vergil kept going his way, but after a short while it followed after him as well, melting within his shadow after it catch up to him.

But as soon as he reached the edge of the rooftop, Vergil received the last surprise Uminari had for him. He sensed it approaching the city from the east, something disturbingly similar to himself, something that made Vergil let out a shocked look first and then a small smile.

"So... You're coming here as well, Dante... ... Very well, I may not have any reason to take part in this, but it seems it might be worth keep an eye on it anyway... However..."

Despite how _excited_ (well, not really) Vergil seemed moments before, the moment he felt the person within the other building preparing to leave, his expression turned back into a stern and thoughtful one.

"Well... There is still some time left anyway..."

And without second thoughts, without bothering to look back, Vergil jumped from the top of the tower of steel and concrete, and down to the ground below. He did it just in time to avoid being seen by the blonde girl that had just stepped into the same rooftop.

"Was there... someone else here?"

After failing to find any evidence that proved her previous thought, Fate just dismissed it as her mind playing tricks on her.

However, and unbeknownst to her, the moment a gust of wind hit her she turned to look at the now cloudy sky with her scarlet eyes at the exact same time a set of azure ones did so too.

* * *

><p><strong>Days ahead fading to black from silver gray...<strong>

* * *

><p>And for neither the first nor the last time, both of them ended up having the same thought on their minds.<p>

A thought that they voiced at the same time as well.

"A storm is approaching..."

* * *

><p><span><strong>Omake.<strong>

**There's always one missing...**

Sparda: By the way, where is Shamal? I don't think I saw her at the dinning hall

Signum: Don't you remember Commander, after the incident at the bathhouse last week, you left her in the charge of captain Berial so that he could decide her punishment

Sparda: I remember that. What about it?

Signum: Since captain Berial had to leave in a hurry earlier, he just assigned her as a helper with one of the castle's squads

Sparda: Is that so, but again... Where is she?

Vita: Actually I think she ended up helping in the kitchen

Sparda: I see...

…

Sparda: Wait... What?... Oh crap, Olivie...

_CRASH!_

Vita: He jumped out the window...

Signum: I know

Vita: The door was right there...

Signum: I know...

Bolverk: Why is Sparda running across the wall?

Signum: Well, obviously neither the doors or the ground are worth of his time...

…

Bolverk: You give him way too much credit, kid...

Later that day, word would spread across Fortuna castle about Sparda's epic battle against the living abomination brought forth by the cooking skills of the Knight of the Lake.

Signum: You truly are our hero Commander XD

Sparda: ...What the hell are you talking about? B(

* * *

><p>AN: You know what I just realized...

Vergil + Fate = Yami-chan... 8O

Isn't that a scary thought...? B)

No...?

Sigh...

I guess you all want an explanation...

First of all, it was never my intention to treat this _chapter_ as the actual next entry for _Of Aces & Jokers_, it originally started as nothing more than a short scene that I was planning to upload alongside Chapter 1 (just in case you people forgot, so far we've only dealt with the prologue).

As a matter of fact I didn't even started writing this right away, it was while working on Chapter 1 when I finally decided to add the extra scene's original version, I think I had around 14 pages done at the time.

And then, all of a sudden as soon as I started typing my head got hit by a muse's 1974 Les Paul Custom ('cause in my head, all muses carry at least one of those), and so a short extra scene evolved into a whole chapter, although in the end I decided to keep the tag-line as Extra Scene out of nostalgia.

However, I was mindful enough to keep working on both chapters at the same time for as far as I could, which was up to near the end of Sparda's section. I'm not entirely sure how much I was able to progressed with the other chapter and I'm not in the mood to look for the file right now, but I can tell you that it has certainly improved from last time.

And now I'm gonna assumed that your displeasure is either already gone or has subsided enough to give me the chance to go on...

Lets see... As to what exactly gave me the idea for this chapter, well...

The first part, and the beginning of all, Sparda and Olivie...

I didn't came up with that as part of this story. I took the premise, so to speak, from an unused story of mine, a one-shot DMC X F/SN crossover featuring an encounter between a young Arturia Pendragon and Sparda during his road-runner years. Of course, other than the most basic concept, there isn't really anything else in common between the two plots.

Another thing that had some influence, albeit rather short, was a comment made by Capcom a few weeks ago in which they said that it was possible for DMC to go back to its roots. Well, I'm sure that it mostly meant the series going back to the main story in a future game or just NT DmC changing yet again to resemble the original games more, but I couldn't help to think that maybe, just maybe when they said going back to the roots, they meant it literally. Going back at the moment in history that started it all, that is Sparda's story.

Also, and I think this is something anyone who has wrote a DMC crossover would agree with me, Sparda's story is just so awesome that you can't help but feel excited while including it in your story. It just fits perfectly almost any story and you even find yourself smiling when you start typing the words of his journey.

* * *

><p><strong>BGM: Super Street Fighter II Turbo OST Guile's Theme.<strong>

* * *

><p>(That's right, Sparda's story is so epic that I'm using this song as background music in the author's notes)<p>

I mean, we're talking about a guy who beat the living crap out of angels and humans at first (if you want to take his cameo in Bayonetta as canon, like I do) only for him to awake to his heart's call and choosing to follow his own sense of justice and honor over his nature as a devil. Then he proceeded to beat the living crap out of the legions of hell, conquering Inferno alone along the way, and then beating the living crap out of the king of hell, and after that he slammed the door to the human world in their faces... literally.

And after everything was said and done, he went home and became a family man, with one of the most powerful witches to have ever lived as his wife (if you want to take Eva's cameo in Bayonetta as canon, like I do)

How more epic can you get?

* * *

><p>Alright, enough with the music.<p>

* * *

><p>Another thing I would like to point out was the way I portrayed Sparda. I know that for the most part, Sparda is always shown as someone with a serious, cold demeanor and a down to business type of attitude, and I have no problem with that really, if we are talking about Sparda around the time he met Eva that is.<p>

But if we are talking about Sparda during his most active years, then I like to think of him being more among the lines of a _Nicer Vergil/Well-mannered Dante_. Which is what I was aiming for in this chapter, so rather than OOCness, think of it as character development... Well, sorta...

As for Olivie, well I pretty much meant for her to resemble Vivio for obvious reasons, so there isn't much for me to say there.

Two characters that I added exclusively for this chapter were Matier and Bolverk from DMC2, and while I know what I said last time the only reason why I included them in here was because this is an _extra chapter, _meaning that it doesn't need to be taken entirely seriously.

And again, I know that the way I work around Matier's character may seem a bit odd, but considering that this is her, back in her prime years, I thought it would be interesting to show a different side of her, that of a female MacGyver, because I thought it would be awesome when combined with her job as a maid.

I wanted for the roles that Matier and Sparda played in Olivie's life to resemble those of Nanoha and Fate with Vivio in the present... Or future... or whatever works for you...

As for Arkham, that is something that I had decided around the time I started with the story. It wasn't easy though, especially with all the possibilities everyone's favorite psychopath offered. In fact, I recall that one of my earlier ideas was to make Arkham Alicia's (and by extension, Fate's) father, but I immediately dismissed it after realizing that I would just be following the same plot of the third game, only replacing a character I've never liked with one of my favorites.

Instead, I went with an idea that I found far more interesting and with much more potential: Arkham being alive during Sparda's time and even being an acquaintance of him. And it paid off.

I didn't went to much into details about that (only having Arkham being mention a couple of times) because that is something I plan to address in the main story later on. But as a form of preview I'll tell you this, Arkham's actions will have a huge impact in A's and, to a lesser extent, Force.

And then the Wolkenritter...

Like with the others I wasn't trying to change their characters, as a matter of fact, aside from a few personality quirks (which got fixed long before A's) they're pretty much the same as in the main series. The problem for them here was the character they interacted with, and this was especially the case for Signum.

Since things in here are different thanks to the AU element of the story, I figured I could take the opportunity to make a few changes here and there, the most obvious example of this being Dante, as you will find out soon.

In Signum's particular case, I turned her into Sparda's student, and only at the price of turning her, just for this chapter, into kind of a rookie. It wasn't that hard actually, don't get me wrong, Signum is an awesome girl and I love her, but if there is anyone that can make her look like a total noob that is Sparda.

And more importantly, it was worthy for her as well, but I don't need to say anymore, you will find out in A's anyway.

Now you see what I meant about Signum not been to willing to acknowledge Dante as Sparda's son...?

...And don't get me started with his brother.

By the way, the name Himmel was supposed to be a nickname and a pun, you can tell this when you considerate what it means and who says it.

Finally, just a couple of things related to the first half...

The time frame in which that section of the chapter occurred was way after Sparda defeated Mundus' armies, but obviously before he met Eva.

Also, Sparda and the other three devils shown (or in Berial's case, mentioned) here were the only devils to have taken Olivie's side during the Unification Wars, Sparda being the first. Griffon was the first of three that chose Ixpellia's and as for Claus, he came upon two other devils, but that was way after this, a few years prior to the end of the war.

And that's it for the first half, now to the second. Something I'm sure many of you are curious about...

First of all, I would like to tell you a completely irrelevant and useless fact...

The very last scene here was meant to be the last scene for the removed prologue chapter I mentioned last time. I figured that since I was already going out of my way writing this I could throw it in as well.

Two things that probably stand out rather easily are Vergil's two _colleagues_... I did tell you that I had a special surprise for my favorite three, remember? Now you just have to wait for the last one... It will blow, not only yours, but Fate's mind as well.

And no I'm not telling you which one is it, not just yet.

Also I didn't named them, not because of an attempt to keep things mysterious, but because I didn't thought it was necessary, I'm sure many of you can already guess who those two are.

Although, if we're talking about guessing, then I'm more interested in how many of you can tell who was the guy that ended up with his head buried in the ground...

But anyway, back on track.

Why those two? Because they're the originals, without them we wouldn't have many of the trademark attacks of the DMC series. Not to mention that I've always liked them more than Rebellion, even if just by a tiny little bit, and certainly more than (Dante's) Beowulf... freaking rip-off.

Anyway, they're just really cool and it feels pretty sweet turning demons to ashes and dust with them.

And then, Vergil...

Something I wanted to point out with his scene was that, Vergil actually has deep ties with the events that will be unfolding soon, and I don't mean just the first season. I wanted to show the contrast between his situation and that of Nanoha, Dante and Fate.

Another thing of interest for you might be the past relationship between Vergil and Precia, and as you can see Fate won't be the first Testarossa to bear a grudge against the Dark Angel. But hers is gonna be more epic.

Something else I want to make clear is in reference to _him_. I'll just said this, that person is not Mundus.

To be honest, I've never cared about Mundus. For me he will always be the guy Sparda beat to a bloody pulp near the end of the war against Inferno and nothing more. In fact, even though I already have enough ideas to cover up to three long arcs in Force, I have yet to find any use for Mundus.

As for the identity of _that man_, it is more than likely you won't guess it right, you need to think outside the box to find that out. No, _he_ is not an Original Character.

But the main reason behind Vergil's appearance was to build up the hype, something the ending took care of... I'd like to believe it did...

Vergil's scenes took place shortly after the outcome of Dante's fight against the Jell-O Devil and around the beginning of Chapter 1.

Also, the Shadow that followed Vergil to Uminari was something I added at the last minute. It was meant to be a tribute to the second DMC novel.

As for the line near the end of the chapter, that's a reference to a song...

The Black Halo by Kamelot.

I didn't included it because of the video _Elysium_, but because I actually think that song fits Vergil quite well, just like I said for Dante last time. And for the record, I've been a fan of Kamelot ever since they released their fifth album _Karma_ back in '02.

And on that note, to any NanoFate fans reading this, I strongly suggest you to go and read/watch any of your favorite NanoFate stories while listening to Kamelot's song Forever (the original version if possible). I do it all the time and it feels great, really.

...

Dammit all... I miss Roy...

...

And... I guess that's about it...

I would like to apologize for not been able to update my profile page like I said I would, things just turned hectic at work and by the time everything finally calmed down... I just figured it would be for the best to wait after I was done with this chapter.

But now I can say for sure that it is finally ready for you to go and take a look.

If you feel like reading more of my nonsensical blabbering (as if) or are curious about what other ideas I've come up with for new fics you're more than welcome to take a look at anytime.

Speaking of which, I finally came up with an interesting story for my NanoFate fic, or rather I came up with two. You know where to go if you want to know.

There is also a poll there if you're interest.

Finally I would like to address one final issue...

Aside for the fact of leaving out the pairing between Nanoha and Fate from this fic, I really haven't decided on anything else related to romance for the story. I figured that the best thing I could do since I no longer had a pairing I wanted to work with was to let things flow naturally.

With that I mean, leave romance aside for the moment, focusing more on the meetings between the characters and how the dynamics between them could work and then go for the romantic development, after more solid relationships and bonds get to be establish.

That was my intention all along, so for the moment, you really shouldn't try to look too hard into things, if you think you see some development going on, its probably just in your head... for now...

But like I said last time too, any pairing might be possible really, some more than others but nevertheless... It all depends of how things play out.

Except for Vergil...

Because let's be honest here, there really aren't many characters out there willing to put up with him as a lover, not to mention there aren't any that can actually pull it off.

Well... Except for Nero's mom...

Seriously, even if we never get to meet her but, that lady deserves a medal or something. Anyone that can have their way with the Dark Slayer like she did is worth of respect, fear and (in the case of the more hardcore Vergil fans) some resentment...

In case you're among the ones that aren't too fond of some of the things the Deadly Fortune novel says (unlike me) then don't worry... Alternate Universe, remember...

But hey... If you feel like disagreeing with me on that or any other point, you're more than welcome to do so.

And that's it for the day.

Next time, you will finally get to see our infamously cute White Devil's big dramatic entrance into the fray. Not to mention her first meeting with the equally badass Red Joker.

So what do you think my friends.? Will Dante be influenced by Nanoha's _Joie de vivre_ and improve as a person? Or will it be Nanoha the one to take after some of Dante's most prominent habits?

Well, we all know they have one thing in common...

They certainly know how to blast problems into oblivion...

Again, I'll upload the chapter as soon as I can, and I mean it this time... Or at least I hope I do.

I mean, three chapters, nearly fifty thousand words and I have yet to start with the actual story... This is no laughing matter people...

Then why the hell am I laughing...?! DX

Sigh... I guess I'll just take a break for now. Maybe I can finally get started with Vergil's route...

Wait... Uhm... that wasn't what I meant, but now that I think about it... That would be one hell of a minegold...


	4. Chapter 1: Of Fate & Irony

A/N: Wow... I thought the day when I would be able to post a new chapter for this story would never come again...

And dear goodness! How I missed this feeling!

So, is not exactly a secret I've been away for almost a year and a half, at least as far as of Aces & Jokers is concerned. Now, I'm not going to start giving you excuses again, but if you are curious, the actual explanation is in my profile, so you can go there in case you want to know what possible reasons I had to keep you waiting like this.

What I do want to do right now is offer an apology for the long wait...

I. AM. REALLY. REALLY. REALLY SORRY! (TT_TT)

Are we good?

Well, probably not, but that's okay. I know exactly how you feel. Which makes me feel even worse, just so you know.

All of that aside, why don't we move on to the usual section where I address your comments and questions?

Let's see...

**Guest:** "I don't understand why you don't post this on your profile instead of making this a chapter. I think its a waste of time and kind of fooling the readers that a new chapter is up." (On the subject of that little notice I posted before)

Now, those are some valid points you mention, and I will explain you why. To answer the first part, I did it because I wanted as many people as possible to read that message, not everyone bothers to go into a writer´s profile, at least not right away, but people were bound to come across that little entry when reading the story itself, so... It seemed like a good idea at the time

As for the second half, I'm not really sure what you mean by the "a waste of time" part, but the bit about fooling the readers? You're probably right about that, however I did it in order to show how serious I was about having the chapter ready in time. I mentioned it would be within three weeks, and three weeks later here we are... Well, three weeks and a day, but still...

Also, I only deleted your review in order to avoid confusion later on. Reading a review like that once the actual chapter came would likely be odd. I did keep a transcript of the review itself, as you can see, and even included it here instead of just jumping right into my own answer. I would have loved to let you know about it back when I first deleted it, but trying to guess who a guest is in here can be kind of hard.

I'm saying this just to show that I'm not mad or anything, in fact I'm actually really grateful with you for caring enough to make your thoughts known. Really... Thanks a lot!

_**To Rashaan Butler:**_ Glad you liked it. I'm not gonna lie, the bit with Sparda, Signum and Vita was my favorite part too. I knew fully well the chapter could come across as confusing at first, that's why I made that comment in the author's notes at the beginning, but you have to admit, have I told you all about the flashback twist right from the get-go, it would have taken away part of the charm. Agni & Rudra? Sorry, but not quite, I can see why you would think so though. Don't worry, the Firestorm brothers will be making their appearance sooner than you might think.

And finally, about your question... Why would I be upset about that? It´s all a matter of personal tastes. I mean look at me, I actually liked MGR better than most of the other games of the series (save for Guns of the Patriots, that one still holds the crown) and I've been playing Metal Gear since 1996, sure it was the crappy NES port, but still. As long as you enjoyed the game, that's all that matters.

Personally, I only played DmC once, it was n DMD difficulty, and while I found it easy and simplstic, I still enjyed the combat a lot. It was quite fun and have me smiling with every combo i pulled, as it should be. But then again, the combat system was the only thing I liked about Heavenly Sword, so...

Did I like anything else? Not so much, sadly. But that's just me. Like I said, personal taste. As another example, I liked the 2008 Prince of Persia game more than the Sands of Time saga. Incidentally, I feel like that game did a better job with the whole _hostile environment_ thing than DmC.

And again, some special thanks go to _RealmOfEmptiness_, _Jackofalltrades32456_, _InfinityAtmo_, _garoorar_, _tphod_, _sparton2_, _DevilNinjaXIII_, _XarksTheHunter_, _TheBlackDahliaMurder _and_ Lamashu_ as well as anyone else who either, follows my story, has it in their lists of favorite or, all in all, is patient enough with me and is still willing to be part of this silly little journey of ours. And sorry if I miss some of you, is hard to keep track after all this time.

Well, the last thing I want is to keep you waiting anymore, so let's put our time together on hold and start the show already.

Oh! And one more thing...

The omake this time might seem completely pointless, but I'm actually giving you a nice little hint about Vergil's _companion _there, so do make sure to read it, okay?

...

So... A game featuring Frankie fighting nanomachine-powered zombies? Directed by Kojima and developed by Platinum?

Just add some HF-nunchakus and that would be the BEST. GAME. EVER!

...

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 1. Of Fate &amp; Irony<strong>

**(Birds of a feather)**

* * *

><p>Nanoha Takamachi...<p>

If one thing could be said about such a girl then it would certainly be that she is, by all possible means, a vessel of joy.

There wasn't a single person who after meeting her wouldn't end up caught in the girl's love for life, whether it was for a greeting, a small conversation or just a brief encounter.

The innocent child always seemed to be filled with such a warm and tender light capable of inspiring a better resolution within people's hearts.

But it wasn't just her gentle presence what defined Nanoha's character but also her valiant and generous personality. Ever so willing to help those in need, Nanoha Takamachi would always offer a helping hand to anyone she could, always ready to do everything in her power to lessen the burdens that others had to bare, even if she had to take a _harsher approach_ in order to do so. And even in those rare occasions where she wasn't as successful as she would have hoped, Nanoha never backed down without giving her absolute best.

To top it all, her most impressive qualities were her noble charisma and unwavering resolve which made the girl not only a role model but in the opinion of some people, including her friends and family, it gave her a quite promising and bright future.

Truthfully, for such a young and innocent girl to posses qualities that many adults lack, one couldn't help but held her in high regard.

...

Oh... But make no mistake...

"...OH CRAP...! … ...MY KNEE...!"

That doesn't mean things always work out for her...

"... THAT'S MY KNEE...!"

After all, there are always moments in life in which the wheel of fate just doesn't turn in your favor...

"...MY FREAKIN' KNEE...!"

Although, it should be noted that that night as Nanoha watched the white haired boy in the red coat, who received the full blast of her previous magic attack by the way, jump around in one leg while holding his right knee in his hands... that was the very first time in her 9 year old life in which things had really taken a turn for the worst.

And it was right after the screaming boy ended up tripping with one of the broken remains of the creatures that had attacked them earlier, falling to the ground face first, when Nanoha's eyes moved from him to the still glowing crystal sphere at the top of the staff she was holding and then to the path of devastated soil and broken trees that extended in front of all of them...

With a guilty look in her eyes and a nervous smile on her face, Nanoha looked back at the boy laying on the ground and who was now covering his face with his hands while complaining about his nose. "This...is my fault, isn't ti...?"

"_NANOHA...! RUN"_

However, she was promptly saved from her guilt-stricken conscious all thanks to the timely call of the small ferret that had just come out of the bushes. A call that came just in time for her to notice the shadow that was expanding all across the ground beneath her, indicating that something **really** big was falling towards her **really** fast.

Acting on reflex, Nanoha was able to jump away from her previous location...

And as she glided back to safe ground, she remembered that there was still someone else with her there... Someone in red clothing...

Now, while for Nanoha (and pretty much any sane individual) this whole series of events may all have looked _overwhelming _and dare she said ridiculous, that wasn't exactly the case for the white haired boy.

In fact not only did he seemed unfazed by what was happening around him, but just as Nanoha desperately tried to call out to him and he finally removed his hands from his face, only to be treated to the sight of the glowing red eyes of the shadow that was attempting to crush him to death, at that moment he let out an expression that in Nanoha's opinion already looked like the most out of place thing she saw that night...

He didn't seem scared or shock... simply annoyed...

But then again... Why would he feel any other way..?

After all, by that point in his life that sort of stuff happening was all pretty much...

"...Sigh... ...The story of my life..."

* * *

><p><strong>1 week ago...<strong>

...

_...menomaeni arawaru kakugono shimae... tomoni ukebaima..._

"...Hmmm... ...Ngh...!"

_...ushirono shibukiga tooku natta... yasashiku naremeyoto koega more- _

It was a rather simple task really, and one that she had benn doing every morning for the last year and a half...

But for some reason her half asleep mind couldn't figure out quite yet, having to extend her arm and reach for her cellphone in the floor seemed and felt like such an arduous task that not even a hero from Greek mythology could accomplish. Was there any particular reason why her body hurt so much that it felt as if her joints could simply fall apart any minute now?... Honestly, she wasn't sure if she could just ignore the pain for the rest of the day. And speaking of which... Wasn't today a Monday...?

"...Mou..."

Pulling her blanket all the way up to her head as the disheartened sound escape her, the young child just rolled to the side and curled up (despite the pain, mind you) in the comfort of her warm bed. It wasn't until now that Nanoha finally began to fully appreciate the blessing that were those few minutes that you occasionally get to spend leisurely lying in bed before you have no other choice but to get up and start your day. Sure there was also the option of simply skipping school but such thoughts were disregarded most of the times. Well, all things considerate, the main reason behind her reluctance for missing school wasn't so much out of stubbornness but mainly because she just couldn't came up with an actual reason to justify her wish, she was a terrible liar and obviously telling her family the truth was a BIG no-no...

"_Wait... Last night...!"_

And in a rather ironic way, the sudden memory of the events that led to her current worn-out state was the very same thing that caused Nanoha to jolt out of her bed and into a sitting position, looking frantically around her bedroom in search of her small guest...

Who she found near her room's window by her desk, apparently trying to no avail to get the glass structure open with his tiny paws in what seemed to be an attempt to run away sneakily.

Had it not been for the obvious implications that such a scene held, the young Takamachi child would have let out a soft giggle at just how adorable the little ball of fur looked. But instead she just felt rather upset and disappointed with her friend's behavior and, being more than willing to let him know just how much she _appreciated_ his actions, she finally stood up from her bed ad began to walk towards the still oblivious ferret, without him even noticing as she closed the gap between them, probably because of how engrossed he was in trying to unlock the window. Not even once Nanoha was standing right next to the desk did the small animal noticed her.

"Here, let me help you"

She finally said, her words causing the furry thing to froze in place, shivers went down his body as the girl's small but more capable hand opened the window with ease. Turning ever so slowly as he kept sweating cold bullets, Yuuno Scrya came face to face with the young girl that just saved his life the night before. The face to face part being quite literal, since Nanoha was leaning forward with her hands on her knees to support her body, yet her eyes were still staring intently down at the sand colored ferret, she was careful enough not to look upset, but still allowing her discontent to show nonetheless. Quite frankly, it gave her a vibe very similar to that of an adult scolding a naughty child.

"_Isn't she supposed to be the same age as me..?"_

"Is there anything you would like to tell me, Yuuno-kun?"

"_Huh...? Ah! Wa-wait... Th-is isn't what it looks like... Ple-please listen to me..."_

Nanoha wasn't entirely sure why was it that the unexpected and totally unnatural voice popping inside of her head didn't startle her as much as it should had. Maybe it was the fact that it wasn't the first time she experienced such thing, or maybe because the soft and gentle voice itself made a terrific work at easing whatever suspicions it may provoke. Or it could just be that her own serious mood at the perceived intentions in the ferret's actions was what helped her ignore the otherwise mindblowing phenomenon. Although had anyone asked her, Nanoha would have responded that it was a combination of the three the real reason behind her calm reaction to the ferret's only effective way of communication...

With the last one having a greater weight than the other two.

But even so, Nanoha wasn't about o jump into conclusions just yet. "Okay then. Go ahead"

As for Yuuno, he took a small pause so that he could tried to gather his thoughts and remove the shakiness in his voice. After a couple of seconds he finally seemed ready to continue.

"_I wasn't trying to run away or anything like that... Earlier while you were still asleep, I thought I sensed a weird magical reaction. It wasn't a jewel seed... but it definitely came from a living being... It is not that uncommon to find strong magical readings coming from some life forms, even if they are native to worlds where magic isn't that prominent, but this one was different... Even in my weakened state I could clearly sensd it... No doubt it came from someone or something with a great bulk of magical energy..."_

"Ah! So you thought it could be that friend of yours you mentioned before..."

At that comment the small ferret began to laugh sheepishly, or at least as close as a tiny animal like him could.

"_Actually... I'm not really sure about that. I mean, it just disappeared as soon as I became aware of it and in my current state I wasn't able to trace it properly... That's why I was trying to open the window, to see if I could get a better hang of it once outside..."_

"Why not just asking me for help then?"

"_Ah... I kind of got trapped in the moment. I guess I just rushed all too sudden... You were still asleep too, so..."_

"Hmmm..."

"_I'm telling you the truth here. I wouldn't just leave like that, please believe me..."_

"Oh, I know that"

"Wait... _You do?"_

"I mean it's not as if you can just leave Raising Heart behind like that, right?"

And this time around, Nanoha did allowed a small hint of a harsh tone to slip along her words.

"_Nanoha...! That's not what I..."_

"Anyway, Yuuno-kun... I need to get ready for school, so we can talk about it later..."

"_I guess she is really mad, huh..."_

The young archeologist was just about to try once again to defend his actions to the seemingly still upset girl, but that never came to be, for as soon as he turned his attention back at her, the poor boy was treated to the sight of a half naked Nanoha, wearing only some sort of orange underwear, and in the midst of changing into her school uniform. And of course, being the ever so polite and chivalrous child that he was, Yuuno didn't even waited a second longer before turning away with such speed that could have broken his tiny neck right there.

"_...Guess... ...people from this world are rather... bold..."_

He couldn't help but embarrassingly comment that to himself, even his inner voice seemed cracked and shaky. The still fresh memory slowly made its way back to his mind, causing the small animal to start shaking his head rather violently. If he didn't got hurt before, now he was just abusing his luck. But even so, that conclusion really seemed to hit the nail right in the head, so to speak, after all, that girl really just threw herself in harms way for his sake not too long ago and as noble as that was, and how immensely grateful the boy felt because of it, that really wasn't something that many would do... Or should do for that matter. Not to mention, she wasn't the only native person from Non-administrated world #97 he has met that could fit the definition of bold in more than one way.

"_At least she is not as bad as you are, Dante..."_

But with his mind finally free of forbidden thoughts Yuuno's attention finally fell into Nanoha's cellphone that was now lying right in front of him after the girl left it there when she opened the window for him...

"_Hey... Am I imagining things... or did the person singing sounded a lot like..."_

"Now listen Yuuno-kun..."

"_Ah... What is it..."_

"I'll be leaving for school soon. Otousan and Kyoya onii-chan both had to leave earlier to get things at my family shop ready for the day and Miyuki onee-san will probably leave very soon too. The only one left will be okasan but I think she will be leaving in a couple of hours to help at the shop. I don't think any of them will be returning before I do, but..."

"_Don't worry... I'm very good at squeezing my way out of sight with no trouble..."_

"Hmm, I'm sure... I'll leave the window open for you"

"_Thanks"_

"And I'm taking Raising Heart with me too"

"_NANOHA!"_

But contrary to the ferret's impression, Nanoha really wasn't mad at all, after all she could tell all too well that her cute furry friend was being honest. But then again, when scolding a naughty child... There's no point unless you're willing to take it all the way to the end... It is for their sake after all...

And after all the trouble she went through to get him to accept her help, she concluded that a lesson or two were in order if anything was to be done with that stubbornness of his...

Oh, the irony...

* * *

><p>"Ouch..."<p>

She was certainly right about the soreness of her body being somehow of a problem for her daily routine, just walking the usual route to school was quite demanding and her aching joints had no trouble with reminding her of it with every step she took. Still, it could have been a lot harder if not for that boost in moral courtesy of her beloved mother. Stepping into the kitchen and suddenly finding her favorite dishes for breakfast freshly made and ready at the table, and all the while her mother receiving her with a warm and gentle smile. One bite from her homemade cooking was all it took for Nanoha to find herself immerse in the gentle warm and comfort that she had come to associate closely with the love of her family, just as a smile started to show in her face.

And that was definitely something that she just had to ask her mother to teach her someday; a single meal and she was able to forget the pained state in which she found herself minutes ago.

Still, while she was indeed grateful with her mother for having provided such a welcomed helping hand, she had to wonder just why was it that such a thing came at such a convenient time, it was almost as if her mother just knew that was what she needed at the moment, an idea that she found both reassuring and concerning all the same... Could it be that she actually knew what was truly going on...? As unlikely as it was, Nanoha still couldn't help but shiver as she imagined what her family would do if they ever found out.

Well, all in all, it was understandable why the young Takamachi would be slightly confuse in regards with her parents behavior sometimes, after all it doesn't really mattere how mature she is despite her age, in the end she is still just a 9 year old girl, so a few things, such as the true depths of the love and good will of the parents towards their children would escape her nonetheless. And in all likeness, it will always elude her until the time came for her to be in their place. But in the end, it was clear to her that thanks to her mother's kindness she found it a lot easier to deal with the events that turned her world upside down not too long ago.

"No way!"

"...I'm telling you... We saw it..."

So deep in thought she was, that Nanoha never realized the moment she reached her school's street. She could already see the building not too far away from her as well as several of her fellow students littering the street, all heading to the same destination. A group of three, the ones responsible for her slipping out of that gloomy train of thought, were just a few steps ahead, they were all younger than her and it only took Nanoha a couple of seconds to realize that they were all first year students...

"You're saying you saw someone with white hair but who was still young...? What's with that?!"

"I'm telling you that we saw him... He was heading towards the shrine downtown, this gaijin had white hair but he didn't look old at all... He actually looked really cool!"

"...I-I don't know... his eyes were really scary..."

"And that's why I'm saying he looked cool...!"

"I still think you two are lying"

"Oh c'mon!"

"_A foreigner with white hair... Is it really that weird? … …?!"_

And just like before, a sudden noise coming seemingly out of nowhere caused the girl to break away from her thoughts, only this time it sounded like a gasp of sorts and she heard it from behind. Curiously turning in that direction, she found the figures of her two friends Alisa and Suzuka, the weird gasp apparently coming from the former girl who was looking at her with teary eyes and a running nose, while the later just stared at her blonde friend with the same uncertain look as the one Nanoha had in her eyes.

"...Na-na..."

"...Alisa-chan, what...?"

"NANOHAAAA!"

"WHA...!"

And not only did Alisa jump at Nanoha so fast that the only thing the poor and unprepared girl saw was a blonde blur before she found herself lying in the ground with her friend just burying her face in her chest, but Nanoha also found it imposible to shake the girl off as she placed on her an iron-like hug. And all the while the people passing by kept glaring at the two of them. As for Suzuka, even when she had intended to catch up with the two girls as soon as she saw Alisa toppling Nanoha into the ground, she still ended up staying behind as she apologized repeatedly in her friends place to all the people witnessing their antics.

"A-Alisa-chan... Just what's wrong..?"

"..."

As they still laid on the ground, rather than answering her question right away, Alisa gave a stern glare before lowering her own head just enough for the bangs of her hair to cast a shadow over her still teary eyes, her body beginning to shiver for some reason as her hold on Nanoha's clothes tightened. And if that wasn't enough to shake Nanoha, the words that left the blonde girl's mouth right afterwards and the somber tone in which they were spoken would definitely get the work done.

"Did you know, Takamachi-san...? ...In this world, there are a lot of things that form part of the unknown..."

"...What...?"

Alisa still kept her head slightly bowed as her somehow shaky hands found their way to Nanoha's shoulders. By that point, _Takamachi-san _really began to feel unnerved by what was going on, but before she could said anything she found Alisa's face, or what was still visible of it, closer than before as she continued with her rather unusual monologue.

"There is so much strangeness out there worth whole worlds... and if you're not careful, that very same strangeness can stripped you away from your peaceful, normal life in the blink of an eye..."

And it was then when Nanoha finally began to freak out, although she make one hell of a job in hiding it.

"That's why..."

The blonde girl's grip on her shoulders kept growing in strength until she finally turned to look back at her confused friend with teary eyes. Although, Nanoha knew Alisa well enough to tell right away that her current state of mind, as well as her actions, were more along the lines of a passive tantrum than anything else.

"NANOHA...! YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME THAT YOU WILL NOT LET THAT UNNATURAL WORLD TRAP YOU AS WELL!"

For the most part, and despite the still deceiving words she heard, Nanoha was actually quite relieved that her concerns turned out to be nothing major to worry about, but she would be lying if she said that a part of her didn't want to just hit the overly dramatic girl still in her arms for pulling such a prank on her, even if that was never Alisa's intention in the first place, not to mention she was also completely oblivious of Nanoha's interpretations of her actions. In fact, the next thing the clearly frustrated blonde did was to release her friend's shoulders in order to held her hands as if making a plea of sorts.

"You're the only remaining light of normalcy I have left... So..."

"ALISA-CHAN!"

Suzuka called after finally catching up with the girls, pulling the surprised (and still very frustrated) Alisa away from their still downed friend just in time to prevent her from saying one thing too many. She gave Nanoha an apologetic smile, which the other girl ended up accepting in return without any complains, if only because of how tired Suzuka looked, but before she could asked anything at all Suzuka managed to dragged Alisa quite a few feet away from their previous position and began to lecture the girl with all the ease and skillfulness that came with the experience of doing so countless times in the past.

But the thing was, it actually seemed like they were trying to be secretive about something as Suzuka kept talking to the other girl with a rather soft, almost whisper-like voice, while at the same time preventing Alisa from raising her voice anymore than she already had. Something rather unusual in the girls' interactions with each other all things considered, and something that definitely caught Nanoha's attention right away, but as she tried to listen to their conversation while picking herself off the ground and gathering her scattered belongings, she was only able to get a few words and sentences clear enough.

"Alisa-chan! Just what do you think you're doing?"

"B-but Suzuka, I..."

"No buts! Listen, I understand that you're still upset because of what happened but that doesn't mean you can just go venting your anger like that. You almost got Nanoha-chan involved too"

"Ugh..."

"I'm not mad or anything, Alisa-chan. But please be more careful from now on"

"D-don't treat me like a child! Besides, why are you acting so calmly about all of this anyway?"

"Well... I admit that everything so far has been rather shocking, but... I'm just glad we were able to come out of that safely in the end..."

With those last words finally helping Suzuka to talk some sense back into her friend, she then proceeded to take something wrapped in a white handkerchief out of her school bag, carefully removing its cover a bit and revealing a crimson jewel within a silver frame and, having watched this as well, Alisa ended up eyeing the odd piece for a bit as well, at least until her purple haired friend reassumed their talk.

"It was all thanks to him after all, so I don't want to cause him anymore trouble... In fact..."

And it was then that Alisa saw it, that rare but nonetheless intense look in Suzuka's eyes that would only showed whenever the usually shy and modest girl made up her mind about something. And also at that precise moment Alisa began to have a rather bad feeling...

"S-say Suzuka..."

But her somehow low and nervous voice was completely ignored by Suzuka in the end.

"...If possible, I would really like to help him out somehow"

"Huh? W-w-wait, wait wait... Suzuka... Listen, I'm... grateful and... ...k-kind of happy that he was there and saved us, but I think this is obviously something beyond us normal girls... Besides... even I... W-well..."

Noticing Alisa's sudden stutter and the faint shade of pink spreading n her face, Suzuka easily realized that her friend's pride was once again clouding the little reason that she had recovered not too long ago. And so, while once again making use of all the experience she acquired over the years by dealing with the other girl's unique personality, Suzuka was able to slightly change her tone of voice and gave it a somehow accusative air to it, not enough to make it seemed like she was really upset but just enough to make the other girl listen to her.

"Well, if you don't want to thank him for saving our lives, that's fine... But you should at least apologize to me... My grandmother really loved that chair and that vase, you know"

"Hmm..."

"They were made by my grandfather. He build them on his own for the night when he proposed to her. And you just smashed them on..."

"All right! I get it, I get it... Sigh... I'm sorry for what I did last night, I got too carried away back then because of that jerk... and I might have acted without thinking, so... please forgive me"

"That's a good girl"

By that point Suzuka's voice once again reflected her more naturally proper and kind demeanor and she even want the extra mile by patting Alisa's head affectionately an with a smile filled with pride. Now, if anyone else had tried to do that to her, they would have found themselves at the receiving end of a rather ridiculous beating before they could tried anything else, but just in the same manner both Nanoha and Suzuka became acquainted with her personality over the years, Alisa also learned to let the otherwise embarrassing and sometimes annoying side of the interactions their friendship created slip by, sometimes even allowing herself to indulge in such affectionate responses, which is exactly what the girl did right at that moment.

...Still, one of the first things that her two best friends learned was to take advantage of such occasions...

And as such, the moment Suzuka became aware of how Alisa began to gently push her head at the same pace her own hand patted it, she took it as the perfect opening to make her point through.

"So now, please thank Dante properly for saving us next time too..."

"Wha..."

And just like that, the warm and happy little world of mundane averageness Alisa created was shattered with nothing but a few words. And what replace it was nothing but the anger the simple mention of their savior's name brought for her.

"And while you're at it, you should also apologize for what you did to him once he regains consciousness, okay?"

Anger that was promptly replace with the embarrassment and guilt that the memories of her last moments with that white haired idiot stirred inside her, the pink tone in Alisa's cheeks making a sudden comeback with renewed strength just as it did the stutter in her words.

"Ho-ho-hold on a sec here... I never said anything about apologizing to that moron!"

"Alisa-chan! Aren't you even worried? He's been out cold ever since you beat him up last night"

"SO WHAT! It was his fault in the first place"

"Sigh... Alisa-chan, he was just barely recovering from when we ran him over with the car... I honestly don't think he was even aware of what was going on back then"

"Don't take his side over mine, you traitor. And in any case I am NOT apologizing to that jerk"

"So you're willing to apologize in behalf of a chair and a vase but not in behalf of the person who helped us?"

"It-It's not the same, your grandmother's chair was innocent... but that perverted brute deserved it..."

"... ...No, like I said... I really don't think he was conscious when he fell on top of you and..."

"DON'T SAY IT!"

Alisa's scream was more than enough to cause every single person still walking towards the school to stop dead on their tracks and caught clear sight of her bright red face and watery eyes before she suddenly ran away at full speed and without so much as a warning.

"Suzuka... YOU DUMMY!"

"A-Alisa-chan! You shouldn't run like that in a crowded street...!"

...

"What was all that about?"

Was all Nanoha and pretty much everyone else still in the street could say as they saw the figures of the two girls speeding towards the school building. Nanoha could do little more than just keep looking at the direction they took while pondering about all that had happened in that short lapse of time, but in the end she just dismissed it just as she began to follow after them at her own, much calmer, pace.

"...I couldn't even asked how was their trip to Tokyo..."

And it was then that Nanoha could hear clearly a rather exasperated and frustrated scream that sounded just as if it came from Alisa herself.

* * *

><p>"Really. It's been over 10 years since the last time I walked casually along a street... Yet is still every bit as annoying as I remembered it"<p>

Now, Vergil had actually meant those words as a passing comment to himself, all the while calmly ignoring the attention he gained for whatever reason from the people who crossed paths with him. Unfortunately though, one of the very few constants in the blue-eyed devil's life has always been the fact that he is never truly alone, and thus such private comments never stay private for very long.

"**[Gee... Do you have to be like that all the time? Cheer up! It's really been ages since the last time you could afford walking casually around a nice neighborhood without being on the look out for someone OR something trying to kill ya... And it's such a lovely morning to boot!]"**

"_Funny you mention that, considering who was responsable for my life being constantly on the line, ever since the day I opened my eyes for the first time"_

"**[Hey! I did warn you right from the get go, did I not? Besides, from the moment you decided to leave your _dear_ mentor behind and do things on your own, all the close calls are solely your fault]"**

"_And I've never denied that, have I? Still..."_

Vergil took a small pause, although it was mostly in order to ignore the looks the young woman and her male companion coming from the opposite direction of the street threw at him. He didn't even bother to look back at them, already knowing the reactions they were giving just from the air around them. To their credit, the lady certainly had excellent etiquette, she looked at him with every bit of elegance and discretion as one would expect from a maiden of high upbringing, which in turn helped to keep her _friend's_ response to this action relatively tame, just an angry glare that Vergil had no trouble ignoring. There was something familiar about the male though, and on that note...

Was purple really the girl's natural hair color?.

"**[Heh... Like you're one to talk...]"**

"_Guess you're right. But as I was saying..."_

But as _Fate_ would have it, the moment Vergil tried to reassume his statement was also the moment he passed by an old man sweeping the entrance to his home. One look at the white-haired devil and the next thing the old man did was to make a comment about the youngsters these days and their weird fashions...

Needless to say, this wasn't exactly appreciated by the _youngster_, as clearly shown by the twitch that appeared on the devil's left eye. Thankfully, the bangs of his brushed down hair made a perfect job at concealing it for _most_ people.

"**[Now, now. Don't let it get to you]"**

Sparing just a brief glare at his shadow, projected on the wall to his right by the morning sun, Vergil simply continued with his explanation "Sigh..._ As I was saying, I would rather deal with the usual life or death situations rather than all of this"_

And as if to help the devil illustrate his point, at that precise moment a group of high-school girls just came from around the corner a few feet ahead and...

Well, whatever they did, their target really didn't pay much attention. He just kept going his way while trying to prevent the twitch of his eye from growing too much.

"**[You keep complaining but... Can you really blame them? That suit really suits ya!]"**

"_What was I supposed to do? Walk around the suburbs wearing my usual clothes? I'm trying to keep a low profile"_

"**[And you really are doing a great job about it. Still, I'm surprised at how easily the others got to like those outfits. Any idea how that happened?]"**

"_After they watched Pulp Fiction. Before that, they couldn't even wear their ties properly until I taught them"_ And whether he did it intentionally or not, Vergil actually adjusted the black tie he was wearing as he said that.

"**[That does sound like them. But then again, what about you?]"**

"_I actually still dislike wearing this, it's just too off-putting for me. But it's not like I had much of a choice to begin with... …!"_

Rather than continuing with his private chat, Vergil's attention was taken by the set of stone stairs and the large building that could now be seen in the distance, just a few yards away from his position. "Looks like we're finally here"

Much to the devil's relieve, the last few steps towards his destination were free of any pedestrians, unsurprisingly when you consider that it was a Monday morning during school hours. The fact that most of the people working or living in the shinto shrine he was heading to were apparently away on a vacation also helped a lot.

"I don't think I ever heard of something like that before. Is it even okay to leave a shrine just like that?"

"**[Who cares? What matters is that there won't be anyone around to mess things up. Really, you need to learn to enjoy this type of lucky breaks]"**

"Right... Because luck has always been such a great asset for me"

"**[Yup... Just like your... _old man_]"**

"Hmph... Lucky me..."

Despite the sarcastic reply, Vergil still only made it up to the first set of stone steps before he stopped walking altogether. Instead, he just glared at the sacred structure as a whole with a somehow defiant look, like he was facing off against an old enemy. "I really hate shrines..."

"**[Yeah... If I recall correctly, you already had something against shrines even before you met Eva, right?]"**

"... ...That was just me being cautious. Back then I couldn't help but feel like some sort of retribution would come upon me for being too close to one"

"**[Whatever you say]"**

He couldn't see it, but Vergil had no trouble picturing a dismissive shrug threw at him right along that last comment. And despite of the random and pointless conversation he still began to ascend towards the shrine's grounds through the stone stairs, finally stepping into the large front grounds. Just by looking around he could tell the place was indeed empty, which was all the better for him. Walking further in, he came to a stop after reaching the entrance to the main building, carefully inspecting the structure in search of anything unusual.

"**[Boy... These people really like overly long stairs, huh? It took you almost a whole minute to get here. So... Now what?]"**

"Now is just a matter of waiting"

"**[Waiting?]"**

"Waiting"

"**[So... You decided to come all the way to a place that you pretty much hate, waiting for something that may or may not happen, instead of going and confronting Precia already?]"**

"That should probably tell you just how much I'm looking forward to meeting that woman again"

"**[Sure. But I can't help wondering what exactly brings about that attitude. Is it because of your condition? Or is something else?]"**

"Something else?"

"**[You always seemed a bit too cautious around her ever since she made that deal with you. And it only got worse once that little doll of hers came along]"**

"Can you really blame me? I've said this before, that woman is too dangerous for us, in too many ways. She knows too much..."

"**[Then what about the girl?]"**

"... ...I'm just keeping an eye on her as a precaution. Regardless of what Precia claims, I'm not about to take any chances"

"**[Fine, fine. Whatever you say, Vergie. That aside, what's the deal with this thing you're chasing? Do you think it's really _her_?]"**

"No, it isn't her. If I had to put into words, this thing is more like an autonomous program, it acts like a scout of sorts. It probably activated the moment the lost logias landed here"

"**[And that's why it keeps moving around the city, following any reactions of magical energy it senses, huh? But how are you so sure it will come here too?]"**

"Because it's been following me ever since last night. Not to mention this place has one of the highest fluxes of magical energy in the region"

"**[Hmm, seems legit. What are you gonna do if it does show up? Track the good ol' book and take it with ya?]"**

"No, I just want to confirm a couple of things. It wasn't by chance that it ended up in this place, that bastard probably set it up like that somehow, so I really can't act too rashly here. Besides, my body isn't so messed up as to need something like that just yet. I can probably keep using Yamato for a while longer"

"**[If you say so]"**

Paying no mind to the second, nonexistent shrug he received, and just as he was done with making sure there wasn't anything around that could get in the way, Vergil simply assumed the silence that followed was a sign of the idle chat imposed on him finally coming to an end.

"**[But speaking of dolls...]"**

An assumption that was obviously wrong, as he came to learn the moment he tried to go inside the shrine.

"**[What's the name of that girl again? You know, Precia's daughter or whatever she is supposed to be now...]"**

"..."

The question came in a rather absentminded and harmless tone, yet it still managed to have Vergil stopping right on the spot as a less-than-amused look appeared in his eyes.

"Her name, huh... Th... ...!"

* * *

><p><strong>+BGM: Guilty Gear 2 Overture OST Vol. 2 T04: Intellect, Reason and the Wild+<strong>

* * *

><p>Whatever his response to that was supposed to be, it was abruptly cut the moment he felt a presence moving towards his position. He didn't turn right away, instead reaching for something inside his suit's jacket.<p>

But once a figure finally appeared beneath the shrine's torii, Vergil in turn disappeared in a blur and then reappeared halfway across the stone stairs, holding a familiar golden amulet in his left hand and glaring down at the spectral vision that stood at the base of the stairs. It was pretty much a ghost, no other way to go about it, neither dead or alive. It did resemble a female, but that hardly meant anything, especially with those glowing red lines engraved all over_ her_ body and with _her _long hair looking almost ethereal. There was even a blindfold of sorts covering her eyes. After a few seconds of silence, Vergil's voice was finally heard again.

"Took you long enough. Still, at least you did show up, NachtHimmel... No, I think calling you NachtWal would be more accurate, right?"

Surprisingly, the specter actually began moving her mouth right afterwards, almost as if tying to talk back, but in the end not a single sound came out. Ignoring all of that, the blue-eyed devil calmly spoke again.

"And somehow I don't think you will be making this any easy for me, will you?"

Unlike the failed and harmless attempt from before, this time the ghostly figure's answer came as she suddenly appeared right next to Vergil, her fist charged to the brim with dark energy. There was hardly any time left to react to this before she slammed the ground, releasing a shockwave that rattled everything around her. Everything save for Vergil, who was now standing at the very top of the set of stairs, and with not even so much as a stain of dirt n his clothes. One thing of notice though was the brief, ominous glow that came from his left eye.

"Yeah... I figured as much. Sigh... The story of my life"

He made that comment just as a dimensional barrier enveloped the area they were in. All the while without losing sight of the figure below, in particular her fist, just as the magical energy around it began to vanish.

"Schwarze Wirkung... Haven't seen that one in a while. In any case..."

A deep-blue flare burst suddenly from within his amulet's crimson jewel, so intense it was almost blinding. And once the light died, it revealed Yamato, resting in it's scabbard and held firmly in Vergil's grasp, just in time to deflect the few rings of red daggers that were about to drill through his body, while also forcing away their caster just as she was about to strike him from behind.

All in one fluid motion.

"**[That was, hmm... Blutiger Dolch, right? Not too shabby for a fake. And she is already coming back for more!]"**

Indeed, it was just as the childish and overly cheerful voice said. Not even a second had passed after she was pushed back before the ethereal being reengaged her assault, and forcing Vergil to jump into action too.

"Okay... Let's dance..."

* * *

><p>For the most part, the days that followed were pretty peaceful and uneventful...<p>

Aside for those two notable exceptions when Nanoha encountered an active jewel seed, although thanks to the assistance provided by her small, unofficial mentor her rumbles with the weird snake made out of roots and the two headed golem were dealt with swiftly and without posing any major threat to the innocent inhabitants of the city. In fact, the only major problem that Nanoha encountered because of the rampant relics was the renewed insistence of the little ferret about how dangerous things could get. And this became a rather exasperating habit of his, especially after the battle with the root-snake ended up with Nanoha having to play as bait so as to lure the creature and then blast a fully charged energy blast into its open jaws...

Not exactly something that could be say fits well with common sense, and under more normal circumstances the young Takamachi girl would have thought twice about the full repercussions of such reckless act, but then again, as far as Nanoha was concerrn,, the part referring to normal circumstances pretty much went out of the window the moment the boy and girl from her father's soccer team became trapped inside the snake's nest. And while she was indeed able to save them while swiftly dealing with the jewel seed in one single move thanks to her quick thinking, Yuuno wasn't about to just focus on the brighter side of the picture, which eventually brought forth the return of the preaching about the girl's safety.

But all it took to put an end to it was a stern glare from Nanoha.

Well, a stern glare that, unbeknownst to her, caused the ferret to recall with dread the not so peaceful demise of the _wooden creature_...

"_There were chunks of wood everywhere"_

Still, by the time their fight with the stone titan in the city's comercial district came, not only was Yuuno more willing in letting Nanoha handle the situation but the two of them also showed a rather impressive, even if improvised, teamwork. They were also able to show up just in time to prevent anyone else from getting involved, all thanks to the patrol shifts the two had come up with, an idea originally proposed by Yuuno, but it was Nanoha the one that saw it through to the end thanks to gaining an increased interest in improving their performance, probably due to the eye-opener experience their previous battle turned out to be, with the girl having planned the best routes to take and the best times to do so with relative ease thanks to her uncanny knowledge of the area. It _was_ her hometown after all.

But as satisfying as it was for them when their plans and preparations finally bear fruits, things didn't stay like that for long...

To their credit though, after they realized a new jewel seed had activated and just as they reached it's location, one of the city's parks which was now covered in snow despite being spring, they were met with a single, frail looking, ghost-like thing. And I make emphasis on the fact that it was a single, frail looking, ghost-like thing.

It pretty much resembled a young, nubile... naked... woman.

Except she constantly glowed with a faint blue light, as in her whole body, even her long, pretty looking hair. Oh... And apparently, flying was common ground for her too, given how she constantly hovered above the small Takamachi girl and her furry friend.

And so, after taking in consideration all of the above and the fact that the only thing the single, azure spirit bothered to do was float around with a gentle smile on her face and a matching giggle, it was understandable why they were caught off-guard by such an apparition.

After all, such an inocent and harmless-looking creature couldn't be **that** bad, right? :3

WRONG! B(

* * *

><p><strong>+BGM: Guilty Gear 2 Overture OST Vol. 2 T05: The Mask Does Not Laugh+<strong>

* * *

><p>For as soon as the creature was facing them from just a few feet away, both children found themselves on the receiving end of a massive icy assault.<p>

From the front, from above, from behind, the sides and even from the ground below, without so much as a warning dozens and dozens of sharp ice shards rained upon them, and with taunting giggles echoing all around them. Had it not been for Raising Heart's incredibly quick reactions and the pre-set programs installed in the main operative system, Nanoha wouldn't have been capable of dodging any of that. Not that escaping unharmed from that meant she was out of danger just yet, just as the sudden appearance of a second icy specter right in front of her proved.

"Wha...!"

It literally came out of nowhere, there was no indication of it being summoned by another jewel seed nor it seemed to be produced by its _sister_, it just came out of the blue or rather, it was as if the creature had been there all along, just out of sight. As soon as it got a good angle on the surprised girl, the ghost began to spin like a ballerina, only at a ridiculously high speed, with its hair suddenly turning into an impromptu saw just before advancing towards her.

"_Nanoha! Don't move!"_

Much to the girl's shock, the next thing she saw was the small figure of Yuuno jumping in the way of the incoming assailant and creating a magical shield just at the last possible second, not only effectively blocking the deadly attack but also knocking back the deceiving spirit quite a few feet away. Judging by the loud cry it released, it also hurt quite some.

And with half of their problems out of the way, Nanoha was about to take care of the remaining half herself. Aiming Raising Heart at the first deceiving ghost, the crimson sphere crowning the staff glowed brightly with energy, ready to release a fully charged attack at her target...

Until something came out of the group of trees to their far left and slashed at the distracted entity, boasting such speed that no one present could tell what was happening, not even after four more blurs suddenly leap from behind Nanoha and repeated the same feat as before, only to then disappear as they returned to the ground.

"What? What's going..."

[Auto-guard: Protection]

It wasn't until Raising Heart's auto-spell activated, protecting Nanoha from two more attackers, when the girl finally got the chance to take a good look at what the newcomers looked like. The two figures lay motionless on the ground after being pushed away by the magical shield. Some sort of bizarre cross between a fish and a sword, with a dorsal fin that was pretty much a long, sharp blade.

Nanoha barely had time to register any of that before the two strange creatures leaped into the air and then sank into the ground like it was water, only their deadly blade visible on the surface, which managed to cut through anything that was in their way as they _swam _away and regrouped with the others that came before. The next thing Nanoha heard was the sound of trees falling behind her, and once she turned around she was treated to the sight of ten more of the weird hybrids making their way towards them, plus four more attacking the spirit Yuuno had repelled moments before. Every single one of them showing to posses the same absurd speed and mobility, not to mention the same brutal tactics.

Of course, none of this went unnoticed by the young archeologist, _"No way...! Those are..."_

"Yuuno-kun! BEHIND YOU!"

Taken completely off-guard by the sudden yell, Yuuno's only reaction was to look at how a rather creepy face suddenly appeared from within the darkness casted by some of the trees behind him. It was almost as large as a car, a grinning mouth filled with sharp fangs and two cyan orbs for eyes, glaring at him as they pierced the dark with their glow. It was also then that the two spirits suddenly changed into claws of sorts, one of them lashing out at its attackers, while the other lunged at the small ferret.

_BANG!_

That is, until it was pierced by a crimson bolt, forcing it to stop and change back to its humanoid form. The only warning it ever got was the sound of a gun being fired.

_BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG! BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG! BANG!BANG!BANG!**BANG!**_

A warning that repeated itself several times as the same bolts of red light began to rain down from above on pretty much anything that moved or looked creepy, and always getting a clean shot. With special mention to the _very _creepy grinning face, which got a bigger and stronger version of the crimson shot hitting it right in between the eyes, enough to make the disgusting smile turn into an angry snarl.

Once he finally got a hold of himself, Yuuno turned his attention up, in search of the one responsable for that little display. And it wasn't long before he found exactly what he was looking for.

A figure crouching at the top of one of the lampposts that littered the park's roads. Someone clad in a red coat, a mop of white hair on his head and two guns with a black&white theme held in his hands. His face though... Now that was the real eye-catcher.

There was no actual face, just shadows beneath the bangs of white hair, with two golden orbs for eyes and a jagged mouth constantly releasing an unnatural red glow.

It made the creepy face he just shot look like a goofy cereal's mascot in comparison. And much to the ferret's dread, this one was also glaring eerily at him. Something that made him feel really nervous, _"What?"_

"**Found you"** He finally spoke in a distorted voice, right before jumping down from his previous position and landing just a few feet away from Yuuno. A distance that the stranger in red then began to cover with a disturbingly calm and slow pace.

"_Dante... What are you trying to..."_

"**Do you have **_**any**_** idea what I've been through this last week because of you? Oh, you wouldn't BELIEVE half of it!"**

And just for the extra effect, the moment Dante said that, one of the fish-things tried to jump at him, only for the enforcer to absentmindedly caught the mook with his bare hand and then throwing it away without so much as looking at what he was doing, never moving his eyes away from his target. Needless to say, Yuuno was really freaking out by that point, complete with cold sweat running down his back, _"WHAT?!"_

But just as the idea of running away finally appeared in the archeologist's head, Dante was already right in front of him and, in another show of uncanny skills, seized the poor ball of fur in the blink of an eye. Holding him at eye level, Dante showed Yuuno what his face actually looked like at the moment. The Red Joker's infamous _you-are-dead_ smile engraved on his face, "So, my dear friend, what do you have to say, huh?"

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

…

"Whut?" / _"Whut?"_

Letting go of Yuuno and allowing him to go back to ground level, the two then looked at the direction the yell came from and found Nanoha, aiming Raising Heart at them, and with an absurd amount of magical energy flowing into the tip of the device as she prepared a spell.

"Wait... WHAT?!" / _"Wait... WHAT?!"_

And so, they began assessing their situation...

The giant creature with a large mouth filled with teeth behind them...

Surrounded by dozens of those ridiculous sword-fish things...

And a big, pink beam of doom coming their way...

"I just want to say... I'm blaming you for this too, fur-ball"

"_Yeah... I'm blaming myself for this as well..."_

And then, everything turned pink...

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at that very same moment, Vergil finally stood right in front of the gates leading into the Garden of Time.<p>

"Why am I suddenly thinking about the color pink?"

* * *

><p><span><strong>Omake.<strong>

**Karma is on nobody's side.**

**?: [Since we're on the subject]**

**Vergil:** What now...

**?: [You're not a big fan of summer festivals either, right?]**

**Vergil:** You already know that.

**?: [Was it really that bad? I mean, compared with all the stuff you've been through, what happened that day seems rather trivial]**

**Vergil:** Trivial? No doubt about that. But it doesn't change the fact that my only time at a summer festival still left such an annoying memory, to the point where I just don't want to be close to another one ever again.

**?: [You have no one to blame but yourself for that]**

**Vergil:** How was any of that my fault?

**?: [Well, at the top of my head? You were the one who decided to have Kanade and Tsubasa get together just so you could get them off your back...]**

**Vergil:** It seemed like a good idea at the time. And it's not like I forced them to do something they were against. The only reason why I chose to do so was because of how obvious their feelings for each other were, I simply gave them a little push for the sake of my own peace of mind.

**?: [But how come you didn't help Chris with her problems that night too?]**

**Vergil:** I had my reasons.

**?: [Such as?]**

**Vergil:** How about wanting to avoid another headache? Nothing good ever happened to me when I was around her.

**?: [Well, Chris did end up with Tsubasa in the end, though. And bizarrely enough, with your help too]**

**Vergil: **And what exactly does any of that have to do with anything? It was over 10 years ago.

**?: [Considering that summer festival was their very first date, then I would say what happened to you there was pretty much karma]**

**Vergil:** Really? I always thought of that as just another work of my luck. Karma instead being how those two ending up as a couple backfired after they became even more annoying. Like that time I found them doing it on my bed.

**?: [Oh, right! I remember that. You went to the rooftop to burn the mattress right after throwing Tsubasa out a window]**

**Vergil:** She was fine. It was a second floor window.

**?: [Gee... You know, throwing people through windows, holes and whatnot just because you're angry at them is never the way to go about things]**

**Vergil:** ... ... ...Do you ever stop and listen to the stuff you say?

**?: [Why? What did I say?]**

**Vergil:** Sigh... ...Never mind...

* * *

><p><span>AN: If you didn't get the joke just now then I suggest you give my other story The Gensokyo Devils Dread a read, then you'll get it.

Hmm... So... Was that enough to make up for the long wait?

If your answer was a No, then I guess it was a good thing I added yet another chapter right after this one, huh?

So just use that nice little box next to my ever so charming words and keep enjoying my gift to you all.

I'll be seeing you at the other side. \(^_^)/


	5. Tales of Randomness I

A/N: Hello there!

Welcome to the first entry of something I like to call Tales of Randomness!

Wait. Does that mean this is just another lame joke chapter?

**NOT AT ALL!**

These are supplementary chapters taking place around the same time as the chapter before them, and they focus on some of the characters that might be missing before. As such, everything that happens in here is perfectly canon to the rest of the story and will have repercussions in future events.

So let's keep the show rolling!

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><p><span><strong>Tales of Randomness I.<strong>

**Of Meetings & Expectations.**

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><p>"...You know... I had forgotten just how much I hate the fog..."<p>

"You don't say"

"Yup... I mean, things are already quite dull and boring as they are, but with this annoying thing covering everything... just makes it almost unbearable... _Yaaaaaaaawwwnnnn_... It just makes me wanna sleep..."

While Alastor had been able to just ignore the comments his companion would voice every now and then without a problem so far, it was as he heard that last sentence when the need to take a deep breath in order to try and keep his act together finally came. It had been roughly an hour and a half since they arrived at the entrance of the great forest they were traversing, two figures moving between the large, looming shadows that were cast by the imposing trees and the fog littering the scene, and yet, not a single moment came within that time in which the man walking a few steps behind him wouldn't prove just why was Alastor so reluctant to have him tagging along in the first place.

After all, not only did he first found Ifrit soundly asleep right in the middle of the great bridge at the top of the tower's arena when he went to pick him up earlier, but Alastor was almost certain that for the first 20 or so minutes after they entered the forest, his old acquittance had actually been sleep walking. Sure he wasn't entirely sure of that since he really didn't bother to look back at him to confirm it, but the nonsensical mumbling and loud snores that would occasionally reach his ears were all the evidence he needed or wanted. The fact that the unhelpful fool was perfectly capable to keep up with him the whole time wasn't all that relevant. After all, he could still recall one occasion, back during the Unification wars, when the fire devil just kept sleeping even after the battleship he was on board of was shut down and ended up crashing into an enemy bunker.

And he didn't woke up until a few minutes after that...

"...You don't say..." Understandably, Alastor's comment came with a rather exasperated air in it.

Unfortunately, it was met with nothing more than a shrug, "Hey, it's not like I can help it"

"How convenient for you"

"Heh... Get off my back, Al"

"Don't call me that"

But of course things wouldn't just settle down after that lazy bones of a partner finally returned to a more conscious state, for as soon as Ifrit pulled himself together, he began to try to find ways to keep himself entertained, such as hitting rocks with the fiery spear he carried with him as if playing golf or polo.

"Sure, sure... Oh! 21..."

With the latest target having just been found. And it was as the rock flew mere inches away from his head when _Al_ finally turned to look sternly at the other devil.

"..."

"Right, my bad" But that carefree expression on Ifrit's face clearly showed that he really didn't care for what just happened. Or rather, he just wasn't interested in it.

"Just why do you insist on messing around with those?" Alastor asked, pointing at the ethereal weapon in Ifrit's hand just as he began to spin it in between his fingers for no real reason.

"...Dunno... I just get bore sometimes and try to change the pace..."

"... ...Whatever. But just let me remind you that we're not really in a position where we can afford to screw this up"

"Heh... Well I think it's a little too late for that, don't you think. Hell, that's the only reason why we decided to come all the way here and try to ask that cheeky brat for help"

"You see. That right there is why I told you not to mess around. I wouldn't say it's a wise move to call the one we are trying to get support from a cheeky brat"

"Oh please... She is a cheeky brat and we all know it. And she is also an old hag, which is kind of weird, but then again we all are a bunch of weirdos, especially our dear brother Vergie. But above all else, she freaking hates us... Especially Vergil"

"...Well... You do have a point there"

That was as much as Alastor was willing to concede at the moment and, without so much as a warning, the devil formerly known as the _Azure Dragon_ just began to walk once again, even while his companion just kept looking around with a bored expression on his face rather than follow after him.

"That aside, Al. You say _ask for her help_ as if we are just going to have a nice little chat, but if that was really the case then there would be no reason for both of us to come here. I know I rather stay as far away from her as posible"

It had already been over a week now since Vergil left to keep track of the events unfolding around Precia and her _family_, and while there had been no contact between any of them after that, all the devils in their little cabal had previously agreed in trying to seek the assistance of the ruler of that abandoned land. Giving that the sudden crisis unleashed by the released hearts (or _seeds_ as they were referred to by the people of the TSAB) gave a relatively perfect smoke screen for they to move, not to mention that the absence of Vergil, the one who was resented the most by the mistress of that desolated kingdom, was such a good chance for them that it would be foolish not to take it. And that was why both devils ended up leaving the ancient _Tower of Terror_ on their own in order to search for the prospect of a new ally.

They also took the opportunity to get rid of their _casual_ attires in favor of ones they found, even if somehow odd, much more fitting for them.

Black business suits.

Sure, the first time they ever wore something like that was pretty much against their will, but then again...

Considering that back then, their sense of fashion was either pretty limited or downright ridiculous (or in Vergil's case, nonexistent), it was understandable why their boss at the time would forced them into such a thing.

And after giving it a shot, almost all of them ended up liking the outfit anyway and began to adopt it as common ground.

Even if some of them also added their own personal touch, which sometimes turned out to be quite bizarre.

But despite how weird the looks some of their co-workers displayed, Al was actually quite lenient about it, and even considered doing something along those lines too. After all, he was more than willing to welcome anything that could set him apart from the annoying moron he had to work with, as apparently it was easy for people to just assume that the two of them were somehow related, a notion that he found disturbingly twisted in way too many ways for his liking. It really didn't help that, besides their clothes, they both had a similar light physical built and tall height.

Ever since the day the two of them became boundd by the contract they formed with a certain reckless yet brave emperor during Shutra's fall from grace, both devils seemed to have become bound to each other as well. Sometimes the thunder devil just couldn't help but to feel that was his punishment for failing to fulfill the oath he took back then, for as soon as they were brought back to the world of the living they found themselves working once again alongside each other, and several others, serving a new master...

Only for completely opposite reasons, with Alastor himself trying to find a way to redeem himself before the fallen heghemon of Shutra for his own failures...

While Ifrit simply agreed on the basis that it seemed interesting enough to give it a shot, "Listen, all I'm saying is that, before we know it, things are more than likely to go to hell here. Because that cheeky loli-grandma hates us to guts"

"And that's exactly why I told you to stop messing around"

"..._Yawn_... And I told you to get off my back"

"Whatever"

"..."

"..."

"..._Snore_..."

"Really?"

And indeed, as soon as Alastor turned around after having heard the snoring, he found absolutely nothing other than trees and fog.

"Okay then..."

He just released a short sigh and rubbed the side of his head, causing a few sparks of lightning to trace around his fingers and the bangs of his hair. He then began to backtrack the forest until he arrived at the point where he last saw the missing devil, although the only thing he found there was a bunch of charred rocks. It wasn't long before he found him though, apparently sleeping on top of a tree's branch without a care in the world.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"I told ya, right? I rather stay as far away from her as possible..."

"Would you stop fooling around already? Whether you like it or not, you're coming as well, even if I have to drag you there myself"

"...Tch..."

That annoying gesture was the only reply the fire devil gave before turning over his side so as to lay on top of his left side, while also totally ignoring the figure beneath him.

"Did you just click your tongue?"

Hell, Alastor could practically see a wagging tail on Ifrit, like a freaking cat after it became irritated with something.

"Really... Would it kill you to do your job seriously for once?"

"You know what happens when I'm serious Al"

"Well maybe if you weren't such an adrenaline junkie and restrained yourself a little you wouldn't have to worry about that. And I already told you to stop calling me that."

"Hey... Don't try to change me, dude"

"Are you seriously saying you're fine the way you are now?"

"And are you trying to say I should act more like you? Stubbornly following a contract from ages ago?"

"You took the same oath I did, don't forget that"

"Hey, don't get me wrong. If we ever come across someone that can actually become an heir, like... I don't know... some random child with the blood of the Ingvalt brat in her, then I'll be more than willing to concede to the contract... But until then, I rather deal with stuff at my own pace..."

"Well, isn't that convenient... And why are you assuming it will be a girl anyway?"

"No real reason... _Yawn_... Just a wild guess, Alastor..."

"..."

"..._Snore_..."

Well, even if Al was already used to dealing with the lack of interest that was characteristic of his colleague's behavior, that didn't meant he tolerated it in anyway, "That's it"

But even while an evil grin appeared on his face and lightning began to surround his arm, in the end he didn't get the chance to do anything himself, not after a cold howling wind hit them with such strength that it even blew away some of the withered trees around, covering the whole forest with frost and white snow and also breaking Ifrit's branch apart. But despite the sudden lose of his resting place and previous unaware state, the devil formerly known as the _Inferno Lord_ had no trouble landing safely in a standing position on the ground without even making a sound, much like a cat or something like that.

Not that Alastor cared about it, as he was far more interested in surveying their now frozen surroundings AND the sudden murderous intent that flooded the whole area, "So much for the peaceful approach"

"Told ya"

"Sigh... Just start walking"

"Sure, sure"

It wasn't a short walk, but in the end they managed to come upon a clearing located exactly at the center of the whole forest, the location they had been trying to reach for the last 2 hours, all thanks to the dark, murderous aura that just kept growing stronger as they approach it. Walking right into something that wants nothing more than reap the life out of you isn't exactly something that works well with common sense, but it sure did their job easier. And as soon as the two devils finally stepped into the heart of the forest they were met with the sight of the residence of the icy kingdom's mistress.

A huge mansion. HUGE. MANSION.

And one that could very well pass as a castle, complete with imposing towers at each of its high walls' corners, and with many others on top of the main building which, in turn, was composed by several different floors, the walls littered with dozens of glass windows with ornamental frames. And all of this surrounded by other smaller yet still quite tall buildings which acted as the mansion's external wings. But it wasn't just the architecture what was outstanding but its location as well, for the whole structure was erected at the top of a gigantic circular platform, which in turn lay suspended high above an extensive frozen lake, supported by a massive stone pillar that seemed to came all the way from the very bottom of the body of water. The only visible way to reach the imposing building was through a spiral staircase that began a few feet away from the pillar but then grew in wide as it ascended until it had surpassed the diameter of the mansion's ground. A bridge made out of ice was what connected them. And at the very top of the highest tower, an ethereal dark-blue light kept shinning, like a beacon showing the way for them to follow.

And yet the only reactions that came from both devils were...

A look of bewilderment that they aimed at the _over the top_ residence...

A look of uncertainty that they shared with each other...

And then back to the bewildering stare towards the structure high above.

"...Well, that... looks classy... I guess..."

"...Sigh... Let's just get this over with..."

"Geez Al... Now who is being irresponsable?"

"Quiet. And don't call me that!"

But rather than follow after his companion right away, Ifrit merely kept looking at the imposing building with a sly grin on his face, even using his left hand to protect his eyes from the sunlight, despite the fact that the dark clouds that littered the sky erased all evidence of the sun even existing, "Still, you gotta admit that really fits the old hag's taste"

"SHUT UP!"

"Heh..."

Even the grass crumbled to dust with the force of their footsteps and sometimes just stepping near anything in the frozen soil was enough to caused it to fall apart without much trouble. But despite how largely consumed by that crystalline world their surroundings were, they still managed to reach the lake's shore without incident.

"Alright... So she is obviously not happy with us being here, but that doesn't mean things are over just yet. If we play our cards right, we might be able to get something out of this..."

"Yeah... You keep telling yourself that, Al..."

"Sigh... We should be fine as long as we don't mess this up even further. And I'm talking to you, Ifrit"

"...? Dude, it's just the two of us here"

"..."

"... Alright, alright. I get it. No need for that attitude, geez..."

"Whatever"

And so, the former dragons/now devils disappeared in bursts of lightning and fire, reappearing as they stood in front of the massive double-doors that led to the inside of the fortress high above. Reaching awkwardly for the one to the left, Alastor took in a deep breath before proceeding to open the heavy door, "Okay... Here goes nothing"

* * *

><p>10 minutes later, the whole place began to fall apart. Sinking into the depths of the frozen lake.<p>

* * *

><p>Despite the mansion already being completely submerged, water had yet to break into the main hall, or rather, what was left of the main hall after a MASSIVE iceberg erupted from the ground and obliterated most of it moments prior to the sinking. And the place ended up falling even more into ruin after one of the few sections of the floor still intact was blown away by an explosion, with both Alastor and Ifrit crawling from the new opening until they could finally dragged themselves from the flooded room below and grabbed to the edge with at least one of their arms. Both of them were short n breath, but the Inferno Lord managed to recover fast enough, "<em>...Cough... Cough... <em>...Okay... That wasn't funny... _Cough..._ We almost died back there..."

"I can't even feel my face," Alastor commented rather begrudgingly, "Is it still there?" He then lifted his head so as to allowed the other devil to see, causing some ice shards to fall from it as well.

As for Ifrit, he turned to see at Alastor, and after looking at the state of his face he responded absentmindedly, "Half of it"

"Guess is better than having to heal the whole thing. Besides, it only takes me around 10 seconds to heal something like this. And speaking of which, your arm is over there..."

"Hmm? Oh, you're right. Good. I suck at regenerating limbs"

"...You don't say..."

"...By the way, Al"

"...What..."

"Don't you think is about time you pull her out too?"

Turning back to look at what Ifrit pointed with his remaining arm, Al was able to see the bubbles and waves coming out of the water, "Ah... Right"

Without much effort, the Azure Dragon lifted his still submerged arm out, bringing along a small figure.

After desperately gasping for air and holding for dear life unto the edge alongside Alastor, the dreaded AND child-like Dark Angel, Evangeline A.K. McDowell, glared ominously at them, **"You imbeciles... Look at what you did to my home!"**

Unfortunately...

**"..."**

Neither of the males were paying any attention to her, with Alastor simply laying with his face down on the ground and Ifrit looking at one of the large windows to the side.

"**Listen to me, jerks!"** She yelled just as she elbowdropped Alastor in the back.

But before the offended male could protest, he was suddenly interrupted by Ifrit, who was still looking outside the large windows, "What the hell was that?"

"... You seriously think I'm gonna fall for something like that?" Evangeline asked, apparently having calmed down somehow.

"No... I really saw something out there just now"

"Wait..." And this time, it was Alastor who had something to say, "I think that large iceberg is break-..."

"**ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"**

"Sapientia?" And much to Evangeline's glee, Ifrit ended up getting hit right in the face by a large piece of the shattered iceberg that flew his way, right after identifying the newcomer.

"We need to get the hell out of... Wooaaah!" But after finding himself once again face down on the ground, Alastor turned to look at his legs and found Evangeline holding them on a lock, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?! THAT BASTARD IS TRYING TO KILL US!"

"**I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THAT! I JUST WANT YOU DEAD!"**

"Oh! Screw this!" But just as Alastor was about to summon his Devil Arm in order to deal with Evangeline, Sapientia picked Ifrit up, much to their surprise and confusion, and then slammed him hard against each other, effectively knocking the air out of their lungs.

And as if having the armored, porcelain-like dragon opening his jaws (which also caused his helmet to crack upon while taking a rather sinister appearance) and ready to gnaw on them wasn't enough of a problem, it was also then when the windows finally began to shatter, allowing water to breach into the place.

Of course, that wasn't as urgent as the heavenly being that was already right above them and ready to tear them apart. A sight that earned having all three of them exclaiming a collective...

"Oh Crap"

* * *

><p>...<p>

**Ifrit:** We won't bore you with the details of our miraculous escape...

**Alastor:** But in any case, I think it's safe to assume Evangeline won't be helping us anytime soon.

**Ifrit:** In fact, it might be for the best if we just avoid her from now on.

**Guildenstern:** …

**Geryon:** … You guys are morons. Have I ever told you that? B(

**Alastor:** Sigh... Yes Geryon, you have. And if you say it one more time, I'll tell Ifrit where you hide all of your cigarettes so he can burn them again.

**Geryon:** (=_=)

* * *

><p><span>AN: So...

I just found out who the Maiden of the Grove (supposedly) really is, as in I found out minutes before writing this last bit for the Author's Notes, and all I can say is...

I freaking knew it!

Sorry, I needed to get that out of my chest. But seriously, like I didn't have enough reasons to want Xrd already, gee...

Anyway, I know this wasn't exactly what you were all hoping for, but given the unexpected circumstances I found myself in, this was the best I could do.

Luckily, the holidays are closing in and you can be damn sure I'll be using them to make up for the lost time.

In fact, I already have a finished draft for both, Chapter 2 of Of Aces & Jokers and Chapter 1 of The Gensokyo Devils Dread, so it won't be long before I have more goods for you all.

And don't worry, chapter 2 will pick up exactly where the previous chapter left.

That's all on my end for now, so you gals and guys take care. I'll be seeing ya around!


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